


Once Upon a Dream

by Lyssala



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Crossover, Disney, F/M, Fluff, One Shot Collection, Tumblr request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-19 19:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 49,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8222210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyssala/pseuds/Lyssala
Summary: A collection of tumblr requests for crossovers featuring Eren and Mikasa.





	1. Avatar: The Last Airbender

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my collection of crossover one shots. I'm a huge sucker for them and I'm actually surprised there aren't more than what's here! And 99% of them are Disney whoops.

_**Anonymous:**  eremika, a:tla au <3_

* * *

Armin was always the voice of reason, so it wasn’t too unusual for him to ask if this really was a good idea or not. Mikasa was inclined to think, no, probably not but what other choice did they have? There was no way they could stay in the village now, not when everyone found out what Eren was.

The moon was high above their heads as Mikasa led both Armin and Eren through the back paths of the woods, the paths they had grown up on and paths that were very rarely regulated by the military. It was the perfect escape route.

Armin tried to convince them otherwise, to stay and talk it out, that the village was their home how could they persecute them? Mikasa understood what Armin was saying and yeah, at least they would have Hannes to support them but Armin wasn’t there when the military found out Eren’s mother was a firebender, he didn’t have to watch it happen.  Mikasa and Eren both were though. He had already took a position to fight them all off but Hannes was quicker. He grabbed the them and dragged them away; making Eren promise to never let anyone know that he had inherited his mother’s bending abilities. Eren was always decent at it, knowing what would happen to him if they did know but today all that went down the drain.

Mikasa glanced over at Eren who had the hood of his cloak over his head, his hands shoved in his pockets but she could see his eyes staring down at the ground. She should’ve known it wouldn’t last forever. Eren never did quite have complete control what with no one to be able to train him and he let his temper get a hold of him. Generally Armin and Mikasa were there to stop him before he let his temper get the best of him but today, Jean pushed Eren more than usual causing him to give up his secret in front of a small amount of people.

Those people would run to tell the captain of the guard in their village as quickly as possible.

They left as soon as the sun set, hiding under the darkness to get away to safety. As far as Mikasa could tell no one was following them but they needed to keep moving to make sure no one ever did find them.

“Mikasa?” Armin’s voice was barely a whisper as he leaned closer to her, his blond hair poking out of his hood. “Do you think we could stop for a moment?”

She was about to say no, they needed to move and fast but Armin nodded towards Eren. She glanced over to him but this time she could see some blood dripping down the side of his face from the punch he took before they left. Mikasa tried to tend to him but he wasn’t having it, however, here he couldn’t fight too much.

She concentrated carefully for a moment, focusing out on the land surrounding her. “Follow me,” she whispered, turning off the path. It only took a few moments to find a mountain stream bubbling along through the woods. “We’ll break for a moment. Try and drink if you can, the water should be clean.”

“We should keep moving,” Eren grunted, not taking a seat like Armin had.

“We’re breaking because of you so sit down, please,” she answered, shrugging off her bag to drop it on the ground.

Eren was ready to fight again but she put a hand on his chest. She knew he didn’t want this and she knew he was just angry because he was too busy blaming himself but it wouldn’t do any good if his blood fell; trackers would be able to find them easily at that point.

“You’re bleeding, Eren, sit down and let me take care of it.”

He sighed but relented, sitting down on a rock nearby while Armin scooped some water into a container.

Mikasa stood in front of him, looking at the few places of broken skin on his face where Jean’s punches had landed. He got Eren pretty good, until he nearly burnt Jean’s face off. Mikasa made her hands follow very familiar patterns and motions to have some of the water from the creek flow. She controlled it in steady movements until Eren had small bubbles of it on his cuts. Mikasa placed her hands close to his face, the water glowing just slightly as she focused her energy into him.

She learned how to use her bending for healing because of Eren; he got in a bit more fights than she or Armin did, rather, Eren was the one who came out of fights with the cuts and bruises. It came in handy more times than not and now that they were on their own with no one’s help, she was grateful it was something she knew.

They weren’t deep gashes by any means so they were already healing up quite easily. She was about to tell him they were almost finished but she already found his eyes looking up at her. He didn’t look mad any more, just sad.

“What’s wrong?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“I’m sorry.”

“Its okay, Eren. They were bound to find out somehow anyway, we were never safe there.”

“ _You_ were always safe there, and Armin, not me. I should go on alone. It’s not fair to rip you both from your home like that.”

Mikasa dropped her hands, motioning for the remaining water to fall onto the forest ground. “That’s not true, my home is with you.” She brushed her fingers over his now smooth, and scar less cheek. “I’ll always come with you.”

Eren leaned his head lightly to her touch but Armin cleared his throat causing the both of them to jolt apart.

Armin was just giving them that ridiculous smile of his and Mikasa could feel heat rising up in her cheeks. “I wouldn’t have wanted to stay there without you guys either,” he said.

Eren nodded. “We should get going again.”

She was about to take a step forward but something else made her reach back for the creek, streams of water already out in front of her and posed to attack if needed. Mikasa wasn’t the only one who heard it judging by the ball of swirling air in Armin’s hands and Eren in an attack stance.

“Geez, you guys, you aren’t taking this lightly are you?”

Armin was the first one to react, dropping his attack. “Sasha? What are you doing?”

The brunette earthbender from their village merely shrugged, like it was the most natural thing to be out here in the middle of the woods at night; well, maybe for her it was. “Well, we heard about what happened so we can to help.”

“We?” Mikasa asked, still not dropping her stance.

“Sorry we scared you,” Connie smiled sheepishly, one hand rubbing the back of his head. “Sash said to be quiet but I stepped on a twig.”

“And this guy too,” Sasha said, dragging a figure Mikasa didn’t expect to see standing in the woods in front of them, not after today.

“What the hell do you want?” Eren growled when he saw Jean standing next to Sasha with his arms crossed and not looking too pleased to be there.

“Yeah, okay, that’s some way to greet the person who bought you more time to get away.”

Eren dropped his stance, probably due to shock more than anything. “What the hell are you talking about? It’s  _your_ fault we’re even in this situation.”

Sasha put a hand on Jean’s shoulder, probably to stop him from biting back at Eren again. “And he felt bad about it so he came to us.” Jean looked like he was about to fight that statement but Sasha gave him a glare. “Connie worked a little magic to delay the military from coming after you right away and we went out to find you.”

Mikasa let the water she had a hold on flow back to the creek. “We appreciate it, guys, really, but you should get back. We can’t drag you into this.”

Sasha shook her head. “We wouldn’t have come out if we didn’t want to get dragged in. Besides, I obviously tracked you guys here. Don’t ya think you could use my help?”

She had a point, a very good point.

“We got nothing left back there,” Connie shrugged. “Our families will always be enslaved if we don’t do something and I figure you guys will want to do something or you’ll be on the run forever.”

Mikasa looked over to Armin before looking to Eren. They all made good points, and it would help to have more hands but how many more people could they hide?

“Thank you,” Armin said, making the choice for them. “We’d love to have your help.”

Eren didn’t look particularly happy but Sasha sure did.

“We should go then,” she said. “Connie’s distraction won’t hold up forever.”

“Do I even want to know,” Eren grumbled, but still looked mildly interested.

Connie’s grin was almost blinding. “Probably not, no.”

 


	2. Avatar: The Last Airbender II

_**Anonymous:**  You should continue your a:tla au._

* * *

“We should probably stop,” Sasha said from her spot at the head of the group. The forest was getting thinner as they went along so they must have been reaching the edge; dumping them out farther than Mikasa had ever been before.  
  
“Is it the end of the forest?” she asked, trying to peer past the trees.  
  
“No, Connie is falling asleep on his feet,” Sasha snorted, gesturing to the other earthbender who was falling asleep as he leaned against a tree. “We have a little bit more time till we leave the forest but then we won’t have shading to rest. I suggest we stay here till morning and continue on. I’ll keep first watch. I’m used to long nights on hunting trips.”  
  
Connie was on the forest ground before anyone could get another word in.   
  
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Mikasa asked. Yeah, they had been walking for a good majority of the night but what if someone was on their trail? They couldn’t afford any wasted time. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

“We won’t get very far if we are all exhausted and besides, I’m sure Sahsa’ll be able to feel if someone’s coming our way,” Armin said in that soft tone of his.  
  
“‘Course I will.” Sasha sat down against a tree, resting her hands behind her head while Jean pulled out a sleeping bag from his own pack and soundlessly laid down.   
  
“Are you sure he wants to be here?” Armin asked.   
  
Sasha just shrugged though. “He volunteered. You guys should get some sleep though there won’t be too much time.”  
  
Armin nodded, pulling out his own sleeping materials. Mikasa still didn’t like it but Armin was right, sleep would only slow them down. She placed her pack on the ground and pulled out her own sleeping bag to lay down. Eren settled down in between her and Armin, just using his bag as a pillow and nothing else. It was pretty typical of Eren; Mikasa doubted he even brought a blanket.   
  
She rolled over under her sleeping bag, trying to let much needed sleep come to her but between the feeling the military guards were going to come up behind them at any moment and the cold, hard ground, it wasn’t coming to her. She sighed as a shiver went down her spine. When did it get cold out? Maybe when she was walking it must’ve kept her body heat up, but now that she was laying down the night air was blowing through her clothes.   
  
“Can’t sleep?” Judging by how clear Eren’s voice was, he wasn’t having an easy time with sleep either.  
  
Mikasa rolled over to face him, his eyes watching her. “Sleeping on the ground is surprisingly different from sleeping on a mat on the ground.”  
  
In the moonlight she saw him crack a small smile. “I hate to say it but I don’t think Inns are in our immediate future.”  
  
“That’s okay,” Mikasa said another shiver going through her body. “We’ll be fine.”  
  
“If you don’t freeze.” He gestured for her to come over. “C’mere.”  
  
“Eren, I’m fi-”  
  
“Come here.”

Mikasa pulled herself out of her sleeping bag and moved to lay down next to Eren, his warm body already radiating against her. She was going to reach back for her sleeping bag to lay over her but his arms wrapped around her before she could.   
  
She tried not to let out a noise of surprise when she found her hands pressed up against Eren’s chest, his hands resting on her lower back. Just by proximity Mikasa was already warming up and she was pretty sure he was intentionally heating up his hands to keep her warm. Shecouldn’t bite back a smile as she rested her head against his chest. It wasn’t the first time she slept near him but she hadn’t quite been expecting it in front of the others.  
  
“Better?” he asked, his chin on the top of her head.  
  
“Much.” She could already feel herself starting to fall asleep with his naturally warm and comforting presence next to her. 

“Mikasa?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”  
  
She didn’t need to ask what for. She just nodded her head against him as her mind finally lulled off.


	3. Avatar: The Last Airbender

_Meekahsa asked for “Beauty and the Beast” and Eren/Mikasa :3_

* * *

 

Mikasa peered around the large tree she was standing behind. He’d be easy to spot even if she couldn’t see the large foot prints in the snow. She leaned in to get a better look at Eren as he stood in the center of the garden, his arms crossed, and a scowl on his face. 

She had to cover her mouth with her gloved hand so he wouldn’t hear her laugh. Eren looked about as grumpy as he always did, but with the large cloak around his tall frame, his broad shoulders did look a little silly; especially with his long brown hair flying out from under his hood, his pointed ears making the fabric stick out at odd angles. He looked ridiculous honestly. 

Eren’s ears perked up as his head turned, his dark blue eyes looking right at the tree Mikasa was behind. She whipped back around, but she had seen the twitch of his mouth; he already saw her.

She quickly turned to the rough bark and hoisted herself up into the limbs, careful not to let her dress or her cloak get snagged on the tree.

“I already know where you are,” his deep voice cut through the morning air.

Mikasa could easily remember the time where that voice had scared her. She never heard a voice so low, and one that came out of such a large mouth full of more teeth than she could count. Now, though, it was easy to tell when he really was upset and right now he wasn’t.

With a small smile she sat down on a branch high enough that he wouldn’t see her. She watched as the lowest branches of the tree hit his head, pulling his hood back. Something crossed his face, probably confusion but there was something else too. There was a gentleness in his eyes as he looked for her. She watched him glance around, seeming a little more frantic till she shuffled lightly on the branch. His face shot up, his nose moving as he caught a whiff of her. Mikasa didn’t give him much time though. She shook the tree branches causing snow to fall all around him, mostly in his face.

Mikasa couldn’t hold back her laughter as he reached up to wipe all the snow that had fallen down on him. It sunk down in his hair, making it stick to his face and the effort he was going through to get it off was nothing less than adorable.

“Okay,” he grunted, trying to brush off his wet hands on his clothing before looking back up to her. “You got me, are you satisfied?”

She nodded as she wiped her eyes. Eren wasn’t quite as tall as where she was sitting, but he still easily reached both his hands up for her. He hesitated, his fingers brushing by her legs. Mikasa looked down to him, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes, if he should have reached up to touch her. There was a time when she would have rather fallen out of the tree than have him come near her, but that was before she knew the beast had a name, he had a family once, that he was just as lost as she was.

She placed her hand on his and scooted forward so he could grab a hold of her. His hands were gentle, careful as he placed her back on the ground next to him. Mikasa reached up to brush off some of the snow he had missed.

“I can’t believe you didn’t just look up,” she chuckled. “Where else could I have gone?”

Eren shrugged as he started walking, Mikasa following next to him. “I don’t know. I just knew you were there and then you weren’t. I thought…”

She looked up at him but his mouth was clenched shut, and he was looking anywhere but at her. 

“You thought…?” Mikasa prompted, stepping out of the way of a rock in the snow covered garden path. He tried this far too often with her; he’d start to say something and then never finish to which Mikasa always told him they were all each other had now, no reason to keep things. Eren normally didn’t like that rule. This was different though, this wasn’t him being angry over something stupid, he was acting oddly.

He pushed a bush that was falling into the path up so Mikasa could walk by, she didn’t take her eyes off of him though. Eren let out a defeated sigh as he glanced down to her.

“I thought something had happened to you,” he grumbled, going back to staring at the sky. “I was worried, okay.”

Mikasa felt her lips pulling into a smile. It was silly really, she had never thought coming here she’d grow attached to him and him to her but she liked it. He cared about her.

She reached up to place a hand on his arm. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”


	4. Beauty and the Beast II

_**Anonymous:**  LYSSAAA I WOULD LOVE A CONTINUATION OF YOUR EREMIKA BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AU <3333_

* * *

 “No!” 

Mikasa couldn’t believe her eyes. She couldn’t be seeing this. It couldn’t be happening. 

It had been such a normal day for her and Eren. They ate breakfast together that was cooked by the kitchen, Mikasa went outside to take care of the gardens while he read, and she brought in fresh flowers and vegetables to eat for dinner that night. Everything was going as it always went, that was until Armin came scurrying in saying Annie thought she saw something from the attic where she was sweeping. Only moments later the whole castle was up in panic; people were marching towards the gates. 

Connie panicked, estimating they only had a few minutes till they reached the gates, and nearly blew out Armin’s candles. They had torches, Bertholdt said, they had weapons. Jean wanted to just go attack them himself but that only made Ymir laughed, and she earned a headbutt from Historia. Sasha and Reiner’s voices called from the kitchen saying they had plenty of firepower in there but Marco thought everyone was being too hasty (and that earned him a hit from Jean). That was when Eren came in. He gave his enchanted friends a smile and said he’d handle it.

Mikasa begged him not to go. She knew the townspeople could only want one thing. They didn’t understand, and they’d hurt him because they didn’t. Eren just cupped her face in his hands, the ones she used to shrink away from. He said he’d do anything to protect his home, his friends, and her. With that he opened the gates and let them come in.

Everything was silent, too silent for a crowd of that size. Mikasa had enough. She refused to let anyone just burst into her home and treat Eren like a monster. He wasn’t, not at all. If she learned one thing it was he was the best person she knew and she wouldn’t let them harm him. 

She pushed open the doors but no one was there. The crowd was gone, Eren was gone. Panic started to rise in Mikasa, but even more so when she saw a bloody trail leading away from the front of the gates. Someone behind her asked what was going on but she shut the door. She followed the trail back to around the castle hoping it was anything but what she thought it was.  

“No!” she cried out when she saw Eren in the gardens, on his knees and one hand gripping a wound at his side but there was another on his back and in his shoulder, blood dripping onto the ground. 

He must’ve heard her because he glanced up before falling face first on the ground.

Mikasa ran. 

“Eren,” she said as she dropped onto the ground next to him. She carefully brushed some of his hair from his face, those beautiful eyes looking up at her. Tears were blurring her vision. “Let me help you, please.” 

He coughed, blood staining the ground. “You already have.”

She pulled his head into her lap and ran her fingers through his hair, trying not to watch as the wounds seeped blood through his clothing. “How could they do this to you?”

His breathing was heavy, it was choked. “They saw a monster…I did too. F-for all these years, I did too… until you.” He coughed again and Mikasa reached to cup his face. “You saw the man and you…you reminded me what it was like to be me again. T-thank you, Mikasa.”

“No!” she cried again but she knew it was too late.

His body went limp in her arms. 

“No, you can’t! Eren!” Tears rolled down her cheeks, sobs shook her body as she leaned her face down to his chest. “Please,” she cried. “Please, Eren, I love you, don’t leave me.” 

She went to grab him again, to grab him and never let him go but a blinding light made her hands reach up to block her eyes instead. For a moment she thought the crowd came back for more because the weight from Eren’s body was lifted off her lap. She cried out and when to reach for him but nothing was there. 

The light started to fade and Mikasa looked down to her legs where he had just been laying; he was gone. 

“Mikasa?”

Her head shot up at the sound of the voice, of Eren’s voice. Sitting in front of her wasn’t Eren though; there were no rows of teeth, no long ears or misshapen body. It was a boy, around her age with short brown hair and tanned skin. 

“Who…” Mikasa started to back away but his eyes met hers. She knew those eyes. She’d know them anywhere. “Eren?”

He looked like he was just as surprised as she was. “It’s me, it’s me.” His clothes were still torn from where the daggers had cut him but there was no more blood, no more wounds.

Mikasa dove at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. It was him. The way he felt, the way he smelt, the way his arms held her right back. It was him. She pulled away to look him in the eyes, those eyes she loved so much.

He reached one hand up to hold her cheek. “I love you too.” 

She didn’t hesitate to kiss him, nearly knocking him over in the process, and he kissed her right back. It wasn’t until there were cheers behind her that Mikasa turned around, though she didn’t let Eren go. There stood all the people she grew to care for so much standing as humans again.

The curse was broken. 

Eren pressed a kiss to her forehead and Mikasa couldn’t stop crying. 

They were free. 


	5. Divergent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it’s was like five years since I read Divergent haha I had to read the Wikipedia article at work to remember. Also it might seem strange that Mikasa wasn’t in Dauntless to begin with but her parents wouldn’t have been in Dauntless, so Mikasa wouldn’t have been born there. Because she wasn’t born there and because she didn’t know the loss of her canon life I made her a bit more fearful to begin with (technically Eren and Mikasa should be switched but I liked it better this way) but don’t worry, if this would have continued she’d turn into that badass girl we all love :3

_**Anonymous:** i know you're very busy but please please please consider write eremika in divergent au!_

* * *

 

Mikasa didn’t know what she was doing. She didn’t know why she did this. Her whole life, her whole life she lived in peace with her family and her faction and then suddenly out of nowhere she chooses to be among the one faction that was the complete opposite of hers? What was she thinking? She should’ve chosen Abnegation and stayed with her mom and dad. Mikasa tried to close her eyes to block out the rest of the rowdy kids on the train but it didn’t work, all she saw were her parent’s sad faces when she didn’t choose to stay with them.

“Hey, you okay?”

The voice startled Mikasa, making her eyes snap open. There was a girl sitting across from her now though Mikasa didn’t recognize her at all nor did she look like the rest of the born Dauntless kids; she looked a little lost too.

“Ah, yeah,” Mikasa nodded. “Just a lot to take in.”

The girl nodded. “I feel ya. I saw you sitting here and figured you chose to come here like me. No offense but ya kinda stick out like a sore thumb.”

Mikasa didn’t doubt that but she felt a little bit of ease. She wasn’t the only outsider. “Where’re you from?”

“Sasha Braus from Amity.” She reached her hand out for Mikasa to shake.

“Mikasa Ackerman. I was from Abnegation.”

Sasha let out a whistle. “What made you come here of all factions?”

Mikasa didn’t know what to say because she didn’t even know what to tell herself. It was like when she had to make a choice she felt a pull, a tug making Dauntless the only choice in her mind but now that she was here she had no idea why. “Just a change. What about you? Amity to Dauntless is quite a jump.”

“I grew up on a farm, but I quickly learned I liked to hunt instead of grow,” Sasha laughed. “Dauntless was the highest on my results so I figured why not, maybe I could actually learn to hunt here.”

Sasha made sense, she belonged here but Mikasa? She didn’t belong here. What was she thinking?

“Alright!” Shadis said, his voice cutting through the train. He was the one they were assigned to when they came here, really the only reason Mikasa knew his name. “Everyone one out!”

Out? The train was still moving how were they supposed to get out? Mikasa looked up to see all the other kids gathering around the train doors that were slowly but surely opening. Her heart started to race. Did they want them too…?

Sasha jumped up to her feet a grin on her lips. “Ya ready?”

No, Mikasa wanted to scream. What was she doing here? This wasn’t her at all. She had to do something though. She pushed her legs until she was standing up, until she joined Sasha at one of the open doors. Mikasa had to choke back bile at the sight of the world rushing by her. Where were they supposed to jump? What was supposed to catch her? The buildings? How was she-

Her thoughts were caught off by the cheering of the other kids who jumped off the train. Sasha jumped too with a cheerful cry. Mikasa’s heart was racing, she felt like she was gonna throw up, her head was spinning but she had to. She had to.

She jumped.

Mikasa nearly missed the building all the other kids landed on but Sasha reached out a hand to catch her just in time.

“You good?” Sasha asked, her face beaming once they were both standing on the roof.

Mikasa looked down at her shaking legs; she was alive. She landed on the roof. Kinda. “Y-yeah.”

Sasha clasped Mikasa on the back. “Let’s keep up then!” With a quick thumbs up, Sasha started running after the others.

Mikasa took a deep breath and ran, trying to keep her footing on the rooftops and not fall off. Well, one step down, right? That was a good thing. She got this. She jumped out of a train. She had this, she-

Her thoughts were cut off once more when she saw the other kids halting. Mikasa followed Sasha through the crowd hoping they were at the base already but once again the sight only made her stomach churn.

It was a pit; a large pit deep below her, one where she couldn’t see the bottom too. Mikasa really thought she was gonna throw up this time.

“Alright,” Shadis said, in front of them once more. “This is the entrance to the base. Every one of you must jump down into it. If not, you weren’t made of the things Dauntless are and you should give up right now. If you think you have what it takes, go one at a time. Now!”

Kids started jumping down in front of her, disappearing into the darkness below. It had to be safe right? Mikasa wondered if she should just go home to her parents, they were safe. She felt that pull again though, this time drawing her into the pit in front of her. Deep down she knew she didn’t belong in Abnegation. She knew she never fit in there as much as she loved her parents. She needed to try to do this. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t.

Sasha gave her another thumbs up before jumping off the edge.

Mikasa swallowed hard as she looked over the edge, Sasha’s body long gone.

“Are you going or not, girl?” Shadis’ gruff voice made Mikasa jump in her spot.

She didn’t even bother looking up at him. She ignored her fear bubbling in her stomach, closed her eyes and jumped.

Mikasa fell, and fell and she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes. She was terrified but at the same time there was one part of her that felt exhilarated. She was falling through the air, and yeah, she didn’t know what was there to meet her at the bottom which was the opposite of thrilling. Yet at the same time she never felt freer.

Mikasa didn’t open her eyes until she felt her body hit something that cushioned her fall with absolutely no pain. It was a net, or rather netting. It bounced her back up a little but she easily the other initiates gathering towards one side of the room. Someone landed near Mikasa, making the netting jump again.

“You good?” The voice surprised her mainly because it wasn’t Sasha; she was still standing by the door waiting for Mikasa.

She looked up to see a boy she never saw before. She didn’t even remember him from the train but she had been a little terrified to look around at people. He didn’t look like the other initiates either. It was easy to tell he was already a member of Dauntless.

“Ah, yeah,” she said pushing herself a little unevenly to her feet.

The boy watched over her for a moment like he was afraid she was gonna fall over or something. It was horribly embarrassing, especially since he was so…well, gorgeous.

In Abnegation she wasn’t encouraged to pay attention to the looks of anyone and to treat everyone the same regardless of how they looked but even she who, didn’t always play by that rule, never saw a boy look like this one before. It was his eyes that stood out the most, they were a beautiful mix of blues. His skin was tanned like she never saw before, bits of tattoos poking out from under his sleeves and his collar.

“Eren! Stop bugging the newbies and get over here! We need you!”

The boy turned back to wherever the voice was coming from. “Relax! I’m coming!” He looked back to her. “Good luck in there, sure I’ll see you around your initiation.” He gave her this smile as he walked away, this big toothy smile and suddenly Mikasa felt that pull again, that tug stronger than any time she had felt it before trying to make her go after him.

“Mikasa!” Sasha called, gesturing for her to hurry up, the initiates leaving through the door.

Mikasa watched the boy’s retreating back, some other Dauntless girl pushing him through a different door. Mikasa ran over to where Sasha was to follow the others.

Mikasa was here. She made it past the first trials and somehow she knew it was only going to get worse. Surprisingly, that wasn’t her biggest concern.

Who was that boy?

 


	6. Doctor Who

_**Anonymous:**  Hi Lyssa :3 I was wondering if you could do a "Doctor Who + Eremika" maybe with a really smart Armin :3_

* * *

 

Mikasa took a sip from her coffee cup as she stared out the glass doors leading to the small backyard. It really was a beautiful day out. She wished there was something to do but there was nothing but work, work and more work. The story of her life.

“Hey, g’morning.”

Mikasa turned her head to see Eren yawn as he stumbled slightly into the kitchen. He was already dressed which was a surprise even at this hour, but he probably had an early shift. He leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek, and steal a sip of her coffee.

“Where are you off to so early?”

“The hospital,” Eren yawned again, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket on the counter. “I woke up to a message asking me to come in. The best kinda mornings.” He rolled his eyes. “What time do you have to work?”

Mikasa opened her mouth to answer but something caught her ear first. She must have made some kinda look because she heard Eren asking her what it was. “Shhhh!” she said, standing up from her chair, coffee forgotten on the table. “Listen.”

Eren furrowed his brow in confusion like he was trying to figure out what she was talking about but when Mikasa saw his eyes get wide, she knew he heard it too. “Is he…?”

Mikasa turned to the glass door she had been staring at just moments before, to see the ever familiar shade of blue appearing in their backyard. She wasn’t sure if it was her or Eren who reached the door first but by the time they both stepped outside the blue box was standing firm in front of them. Mikasa reached out to open the door, letting her head stick in first; nothing changed. A smile pulled across her lips but before she could move more, Eren reached one arm around her waist, picking her up until he could step in too, closing the door behind him.

“I knew you two would be ready.”

“Hey, buddy,” Eren said, his eyes on the blond standing at the center console. “Long time no see.” He put Mikasa down as they both went rush Armin in a big bear hug.

He laughed, falling against the console from their weight. “Well, I wasn’t gonna bother my favorite newlyweds right after their wedding.”

“We missed you, life’s boring without you around,” Mikasa said, pulling away to lean against the round console, the one that gave them so many memories.

“It was only a few weeks,” Armin said waving them off.

Eren moved next to Mikasa, draping an arm over her shoulder. “It was actually a few months this time.”

“Huh,” Armin said, looking up at the ceiling. “Well, better make up for it now.” He hit a lever on the console, and a jerk went through the ground, signaling they were moving. “Where do you want to go? Past? Future? Different worlds? Different times? Your pick.”

Mikasa said “Future” the same time Eren said “Past” which seemed to make Armin laugh.

“At least I know you two haven’t changed any. Mikasa, I know you’re about to change your answer to Past to go where Eren wants to go. Don’t look at me like that, I know you, so Past it is.” He moved around, flicking knobs, hitting buttons, pulling levers like Mikasa saw him do dozens of times before. Every time it was like being a kid again, marveling at just what their best friend could do.

“What have you been up to the time we haven’t seen you?” Eren asked, taking a seat on the nearby bench Armin had out.

“Oh you know,” Armin shrugged. “A little bit of everything.”

“And a lot of bit of you’re not gonna tell us.” Eren arched an eyebrow.

“You know how it goes, there’s a lot I can’t tell you because-”

“We know, Armin, it’s okay,” she placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’re just glad you’re back with us.”

“It does get lonely without you.” Armin reached up to pull down a monitor looking at some swiggly lines Mikasa couldn’t read.

She had long given up on trying understanding that head of his; she supposed she was just lucky he still let them in. Mikasa moved to sit down next to Eren, kicking her legs over his as he placed his hands on her pants.

Armin chuckled causing Mikasa to look up. “What’s so funny?”

“You two,” he gave them a smile as he looked away from whatever he was seeing. “It’s always been just like breathing for you hasn’t it.”

“It wasn’t that easy,” Eren snorted. “I’m pretty sure you had to tell me she liked me, and I don’t think I believed you.”

“You nearly got me eaten by a massive hybrid snake sand worm if I recall.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have told me when we were running from said hybrid snake sand worm whose mouth was the size of my house.”

“I thought you’d want to know before you died, that’s all.”

“And then you did die,” Mikasa said lightly, but those memories weren’t light. Those were the days she thought she would never forgive Armin for what he had done.

Armin looked up in thought. “Twice? Was it three times?”

“It was only twice thank you.” Eren crossed his arms against his chest. “And I’m still here okay.”

“Thankfully.” Mikasa leaned up to press her lips to her husband’s. Despite the crazy adventures, he was the one person she could never live without. Armin was right; it had always been that way. 

Armin cleared his throat. “I’m pretty sure the only reason we got out of the snake sand worm debacle was because Mikasa befriended the locals and operated a rocket launcher filled acids to kill the creature.”

“No, yeah, that sounds about right,” Eren said. “Sounds about right for every bit of danger we found around selves in that required brute strength, in fact.”

The ground jerked underneath them, having Mikasa nearly falling off the bench if Eren hadn’t caught her.

“We’re here!” Armin swung open the doors as the three of them looked outside.

“What the hell are those things!” Eren exclaimed pointing up at a being that looked too big to be even real. It wasn’t just one either, it was dozens and they were all around them and now coming at them.

She slammed the doors shut as Armin bolted back to the console. That world certainly didn’t seem safe in the least. Mikasa knew, she saw a lot on their adventures.

He gave them a sheepish smile. “I might have overshot a bit.”

 


	7. Fairy Tail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fairy Tail has such a special place in my heart. It’s how I met Jason, through cosplaying it I met some of my best friends, I learned how to stand on my own feet and leave an incredibly toxic relationship through the people I met and what the series stands for. I just can never express how much Fairy Tail will always mean to me. I listened to the anime soundtracks for Fairy Tail the whole time I wrote this and was hit with a load of feels.

_**Anonymous:**  Can you do an Eremika/Nalu crossover?_

* * *

Mikasa enjoyed her time alone in her apartment; just a place to relax after sometimes incredibly long days at the guild and sometimes long missions that left her exhausted and sore. While she loved her rambunctious, loud guild and guildmates, sometimes all Mikasa needed was a little peace.

After a nice long and warm bath, her soft pajamas already on, she stepped out of her bathroom and into the main room of her apartment. She stretched her arms over her head, a yawn pulling at her lips. Curling up under her warm covers sounded just about perfect to her right about now.

“Hiya, Mik.”

Mikasa stumbled backwards at the sudden voice she almost toppled over her coffee table. With her hand pressed to her pounding heart she looked up to see a familiar face grinning at her. Eren was perched in her open window, crouched on the windowsill, the cool night air blowing in around him. He had one hand up scratching the back of his head as he gave her his signature grin, eyes bright in the dim light of the apartment, and his red scarf waving in the breeze.

“Eren,” she said once she recovered from the initial shock. “What’re you doing here?”

He jumped and landed right on her bed before giving her a shrug. “Armin didn’t want to hang out so I thought I’d come here instead.”

Mikasa crossed her arms against her chest. “I’m going to bed.”

Eren grinned at her again and plopped down on the side of her bed. “Well, now you don’t have to. You can hang out with me instead.”

She knew she should just kick him out, that she’d never get any sleep when he was here but she couldn’t say no to those eyes. “Fine,” she said. “Just for a little bit though. Also, you can come through the door you know.” Mikasa walked the short distance to her bed and crawled over so she could lay down on the side closest to the window and away from where he was already sitting. “Like normal people do.”

Eren shrugged as he turned to face her, kicking his legs up on her bed. “The window is easier.”

“I live on the third story.”

He waved her off. “You wanna go pick out a mission tomorrow?”

“Oh, so you mean you’re actually gonna let me help you pick something instead of you just picking the most ridiculous sounding one off the board and dragging me alone.”

“I only pick the ones that sound fun for us.”

“Fun for you.” She reached over to poke at him with her foot which of course didn’t even make him blink.

“Don’t be that way, Mik,” he whined a little leaning towards her. “It’s only fun if it’s with you.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she met his turquoise eyes. Mikasa knew Eren better than anyone; he was the one who brought her to his guild, who gave her a family again, he was her best friend, and she very well knew falling in love with him was a very bad idea. She couldn’t help it though. Eren was the one person she could always count on to be there for her, he never let her down, and he never left her alone like so many had before. She also knew he was completely oblivious to her feelings, which was fine. It would probably be horribly embarrassing if he found out but at the same time, Mikasa always felt a sting to her heart every time he looked at her. He’d never feel the same way.

“Will it be just us or is Armin coming too?” Mikasa cleared her throat, looking away from Eren and down at her blankets.

Eren shrugged. “Armin normally always comes with us but he’s been hanging out with Annie and her team so much I dunno if he will or not.”

Mikasa nodded; that really wasn’t too unusual any more at least.

“Hey, Mik?”

“Yeah?”

“I think Armin has a crush on Annie.”

“Oh, wow, you don’t say.”

It was Eren’s turn to reach over and poke at Mikasa in the stomach.

“What is that for?” she laughed trying to bat his hands away.

“Why’d you say it like that!”

“Because,” she said, unable to bite back her smile when Eren slid down on her bed, resting on his side so he could face her. “It’s so obvious he does. C’mon, are you really just now realizing this? You’ve known him since you were kids.”

Eren shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Does it bother you?” Mikasa asked. She knew Eren only ever wanted Armin to be happy but she never really talked to Eren about this kinda stuff before; she had no idea how he felt on the matter.

Eren shook his head. “No, not if that’s who he wants to be with. I get it. I’m not offended or anything. Annie does have a better figure than me after all.”

Mikasa reached over to hit him but Eren caught her hand before she could.

“Besides,” Eren said, rubbing his fingers over her hand. “We’re still a team; Armin can always come join us for jobs whenever he wants. If he doesn’t then it’s just me and you, and that’s fine too. I mean, we are the best mages in the guild after all.”

She tried to ignore the way her stomach was fluttering from his words. “What about Levi?”

Eren’s shoulders hunched a little bit. “He’s never here, he doesn’t count.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes. “That’s because he’s on what a five year mission this time?”

“I don’t care want kinda mission he’s on. When he gets back I will beat him.” Eren gave her hand a squeeze. “You know that right?”

“Of course I do.”

Eren nodded satisfied with her answer before rolling over on his back, his head on one of her pillows. It was pretty common to wake up and find Eren in her bed; she always pretended to mind and try to kick him out, which for the record never worked, but really she loved his presence here. When she heard his voice, his laugh, felt his warm body near her, it was always comforting. He made her feel like she was home; wherever Eren was, that was home.

“I don’t care what mission you pick,” Mikasa said, nuzzling her head further in her pillow as a yawn pulled at her lips. “Just make sure it’s one we don’t have to die to complete.”

Eren snorted. “That was one time and we won didn’t we?”

“Barely.”

“Barely is still a win. You paid your rent, I got to eat. It was a perfectly fine day.”

Mikasa wanted to respond but she could already feel herself nodding off, her eyes getting heavy. Eren left the window open letting the cold night breeze blow into the room but he was always so warm she barely noticed the cold. She felt a blanket fall over her body, an arm drape over her side. Even half asleep she easily rolled into Eren’s chest, her face buried in his shirt, his familiar scent making her doze off even faster.

“You’re safe, you know, Mik?” By his tone it didn’t seem like he was expecting her to answer but she still hummed in response. “I’d never let anything happen to you; on a mission or here in your home. You’re always safe with me.”

Mikasa already felt the waves of slumber taking her down but in her last moment of clarity with Eren’s hand absent mindedly rubbing at her back, his warm breath in her hair, she thought maybe, just maybe one day he’d feel the same way about her as she did about him. He was always worth waiting for.


	8. Frozen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually started this one a long time ago and never finished. I basically wanted to write a Frozen crossover just to have Eren as Kristoff but literally no one else fit the parts (save for Annie probably) SO I just decided to do one scene where I could fudge the other details.

_**Anonymous:**  Eremika in disney universe_

* * *

Mikasa didn’t know where they were, not that it was too surprising considering she hadn’t left the palace since she was a child. She supposed she should be afraid, and she was cold, very cold. She was bundled pretty well but deep inside of her she felt nothing but an icy feeling that wouldn’t go away.

Eren’s hand was warm in hers though, and it helped more than she might care to admit. It also helped as they climbed over the rocky terrain so she didn’t fall and look like an even bigger idiot. He was walking just a bit ahead of her but he never let go.

She supposed she should’ve been nicer to him when she literally ran into him out here in the mountains but it’s not like he was all that welcoming either. His friend Armin was much nicer, offering to help Mikasa even when Eren wanted nothing to do with it. Of course, she probably could’ve maybe not been quite as defensive when it came to her sister and the man back home she was supposed to marry.

“Almost there,” Armin said from in front of the both of them.

Mikasa tried to tug her wrap closer to her but in the process tripped on one of the rocks, nearly sending her face down in the ground. She felt so dizzy, she didn’t even know if she could catch herself but Eren’s hands were on her waist, holding her up.

His green eyes were watching her in concern, standing so close to her that Mikasa found herself breathless having nothing to do with her near fall. “You okay, Princess?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, trying to find her footing on the rocks. “I’m fine. Why do you live all the way out in the mountains anyway?”

He didn’t look like he completely bought it but that newly familiar smile started to pull at his lips. “Why do you live boarded up in a palace?”

“At least it’s a house,” she said, letting him take her hand again.

He started to lead her, following after Armin again. “I live in a house. I’m not that uncivilized thank you.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.”

He glanced over at her and she had a hard time hiding her smile. “Oh yeah, Princess, all laughs now are we?”

“I dunno, Eren, you did used to sleep outside a lot,” Armin said as he pushed away a snow covered branch.

“That doesn’t count.”

Armin snorted but he paused in front of some low hanging trees, everything else was blocked by the mountains or thick vegetation covered in snow. He looked back at them, his blue eyes kind. Mikasa liked Armin. He was one of the most genuine people she met in her life; though to be fair she hadn’t met many people recently.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Um, wait,” Eren said, stopping just before the opening. He turned to look at her, no trace of his usual confidence. In fact he looked more embarrassed than anything. “My family is a little bit…over bearing. So, um, don’t listen to anything they say.”

Mikasa arched an eyebrow at him. “They can help though?”

“Yeah, I know they can.” He nodded towards the opening as Armin pushed away the branches.

Something swirled in her stomach. She knew something wasn’t right with her. She knew Annie didn’t mean to hurt Mikasa, but she felt weak, like she was fading, but still so cold. Eren seemed to recognize it right away but he never said why. “But how do you know?”

He started to lead her again but he gave her a small smile. “I’ve seen it before.”

She opened her mouth to ask him what he was talking about but she stepped into the opening and her breath was taken away from her. It was an oasis, a valley in the middle of the mountain. Some green grass was poking out from the snow, a nearby river and waterfall frozen right in place, huts and hand crafted buildings laid across the area for the people who lived here.

“Well, home sweet home I guess,” Eren murmured, coming to stop next to her.

“It’s so beautiful,” Mikasa said. “Have you always lived here?”

“Almost always.”

Once again before Mikasa could ask him what he meant a head poked out from one of the huts. It was a woman, who looked confused for a moment but gasped when she noticed Armin and Eren.

“Oh God,” Eren groaned.

“The boys are home!” the woman exclaimed, running out into the opening, a large jacket bundling her up.

“Petra, we haven’t been gone that long,” Eren tried to say but she already had Armin in a bear hug.

She ignored Eren and quickly reached out to hug him too. “Stop it. We miss you when you’re gone.”

He weakly hugged her back but she suddenly pulled away, grasping her hands on his shoulders and her face suddenly serious. “Wait, why are you back early? And where’s all the materials from the city?”

Mikasa winced. She needed to step forward to say that it was kinda her fault for Eren and Armin’s sled kinda falling off a cliff. She was an honest princess, she wasn’t afraid to admit her faults…well, almost.

“Can’t you see he brought back something a little different this time,” a woman said coming around from another hut.

Petra turned back to look at the grinning, brunette woman, before actually noticing Mikasa for the first time. “Oh my God,” Petra gasped. “Eren brought a girl home.”

Mikasa felt heat rise to her cheeks, even more so now that more people were popping out of their homes. She stepped forward to say why exactly she was here but Eren grunted, cutting her off.

“Why me?” he said. “Armin could’ve easily brought a girl home.”

“Yeah but she’s not Armin’s type,” the brunette woman said, a glint in her eyes behind her glasses.

“He doesn’t have a type.”

“Oh, he does too. So do you.”

“You’re being ridiculous, Hanji.”

“You’re looking a little red there, Eren.”

Well, Mikasa didn’t have to doubt they were family at least even if none of them actually looked related.

Petra stepped away from Eren and Hanji who were still bickering and stood herself in front of Mikasa, a warm smile wide on Petra’s face. “It’s so nice to meet you, dear. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It’s just Eren doesn’t bring home anyone ever and we worry about him, you know?”

“I didn’t bring her home,” he said, turning back on Petra.

“Well, Eren, technically you did,” Armin said, trying and failing to hold back a laugh.

Eren pointed over to the blond boy. “Don’t you encourage them.”

“Oh, what’s this I hear?” A curly haired man came up behind Petra this time, a smug look on his face. “Eren finally found someone who could put up with his dumbass?”

“It’s not like that,” he groaned. “Besides are you really one to talk, Oluo?”

Oluo looked like he was about to charge at Eren but Petra held her hand out, hitting Oluo across the chest and making him halt.

“Why don’t you tell us your girlfriend’s name?” Hanji grinned.

Mikasa didn’t think she could feel her face get any more red. She cleared her throat this time ready to give a diplomatic speech but Eren beat her to it again.

“Mikasa,” he said but quickly realized his error when Hanji nearly clapped her hands together in glee. “But she’s not my girlfriend. She’s got a fiancé or whatever.”

“Really? But she’s so young?” Petra said, looking from Mikasa to Eren.

Mikasa felt her stomach sink slightly. It was a sudden feeling, one that took her by surprise, almost as surprised as she was to see Eren’s shoulder’s sag, a sigh falling from his lips.

“Levi, thank God,” Eren breathed. “Will you get these vultures outta here? I need to talk to Erwin.”

She looked up to see most everyone who gathered in curiosity move aside for a dark haired man walking up to them. Mikasa’s breath caught in her throat. She was convinced she never saw this man before in her life, but he looked so familiar to her at the same time. Almost like a distant memory, there but not really there.

Levi stopped next to Hanji, his arms across his chest as he briefly glanced at Mikasa before looking back to Eren. “At least you found someone who could put up with you,” Levi grunted.

Eren didn’t look quite as amused. “I hate all of you.”

“Relax,” Hanji chuckled. “It’s boring when you aren’t here to tease.”

“Excuse me,” Mikasa said, taking a deep breath and holding her chin high like her mom used to teach her to do. “I’m-”

The world started to spin. She felt her body falling but she didn’t have the energy to catch herself, she could barely even catch her breath. She braced to hit the ground but arms caught her before fell completely.

Eren’s jacket was soft against her, his hands holding her tight against him as he lifted her up into his arms. Her head rolled against his chest but she could still see his eyes watching her. There was a sort of sadness in them, his forehead furrowed in concern. She wanted to ask him what it was, but she couldn’t find her voice. She couldn’t even keep her eyes open.

“Please, she has to see Erwin.” Eren’s voice sounded distant even though she felt the rumble in his chest.

Mikasa opened her eyes. The valley looked the same but it also looked so different. It was darker, lights that almost looked like crystals floated around the huts, and the moon shone high above her head. The waterfall was flowing peacefully nearby, flowers blowing in the wind. There was no sign of winter. She felt so much smaller as she was being carried, but it wasn’t Eren carrying her anymore. She saw the strong jaw of her father as his eyes looked a head. Annie was trailing next to him, her eyes focused on the ground while their mother held her hand.

Mikasa tried to call out to her father, to her mother, but they didn’t hear her. How could they? They had been dead for years.

A man with bright blue eyes leaned over Mikasa, a smile on his face as he placed a hand on her head. Eren was there too, poking his head up, but he looked so much younger, him and Armin, who was standing off to the side, were just children.

“Erwin, it happened again.” Eren said.

The cold was back, the snow all around them sending a terrible chill through Mikasa’s body. She tried to curl into him but a hand carefully turned her face away from Eren.

It was the same man with blue eyes and blonde hair. He must be Erwin. He gave her a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Her heart clenched when he looked up to Eren.

“I’m sorry, my boy, there’s nothing I can do this time.”

“What do you mean?” Eren’s voice was strained. “You took care of her last time? Why can’t you do it again?”

Erwin shook his head. “She was affected different this time. There’s nothing any of us can do. The only way to cure this magic with a selfless act of true love.”

Eren turned his body. “Levi,” Eren said. “Can you…?”

“Sorry, kid. I can’t help this time either.” Levi’s voice was softer that time.

For a moment no one spoke.

Mikasa felt Eren started to walk away though he didn’t say a word. She opened her eyes and didn’t see anyone else, just what looked like a stable in the distance. “Where’re we going?” she breathed.

“To the castle,” he said firmly. “To your fiancé.”

She didn’t understand why that only made her feel colder.

Eren pushed open the stable door with his back, making sure he didn’t jostle her too much. “You gonna be okay if I put you on the horse while I get everything ready?”

She nodded. “I’ll be okay.”

He didn’t quite look like he bought it but he didn’t really have much of a choice. As carefully as he could, he helped her kick her leg over one of the horses, tangling her fingers in its mane for support. Eren held onto her for a moment longer before letting go. She didn’t fall so she figured maybe she was feeling better.

“I’ll be right back,” Eren said, heading towards the stall door but something stopped him. He turned back to face her, something she couldn’t quite read in his eyes. “Nothing’s gonna happen to you, Mikasa, I promise. I’ll get you there safe.”

She opened her mouth but he was already gone heading down to get what he’d need for the trip down the mountain.

For just a moment warmth spread in her chest. “I believe you,” she breathed even though she knew he couldn’t hear.


	9. Fullmetal Alchemist

_**Anonymous:**  eremika+fma au_

* * *

Eren knew he shouldn’t have. He knew he should have stopped digging into the Reiss family but he had to know. He had to know what was going on in this city.

“Does it hurt a lot?” Armin’s voice asked. 

Eren looked over to where his arm should have been; now there were only metal shards and wires. “Eh, it doesn’t hurt. What does hurt is telling Mikasa I broke her work again.”

Armin chuckled. “She’s going to kill you.”

“Don’t remind me.” Eren glanced at the walls around them. They were being treated well, being treated as guests in the Reiss mansion but Eren knew they were on to what he was poking around.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it that bastard Levi was right; Eren shouldn’t have gone snooping around alone. The Colonel and 1st Lieutenant Hanji were looking too, having more access as upper ranking officers. They had other vendettas too of course, like wanting to find revenge for their fallen comrades who learned too much.

Eren couldn’t wait for his superiors though. He had to help Armin. Armin who never deserved what Eren did to him in Eren’s selfish desire to bring back his mom. He had to find out how to fix this.

“Ah, Eren, good to see you’re still awake.”

Eren snapped up off the bed of the guest room at the voice. Kenny was standing in the doorway, dressed in that ridiculous outfit of his. He was smiling but Eren didn’t trust the bastard one bit; it was his fault Eren’s arm was blown off to begin with. 

“I felt so bad about the incident earlier that I wanted to make it up to you.”

Felt bad my ass.. “It’s fine. I really just have to get back to my mechanic and I’ll be fine. Once we talk to Mr. Reiss tomorrow we should be set to travel back home and get it worked out.”

Kenny had a glint in his eyes, one similar to when he fought Eren out in the woods on their way here. He claimed he was just protecting the mansion from robbers but Eren knew that was a lie. The man knew exactly why Eren was here and didn’t want him to get any farther. As much as he didn’t wanna admit it, Kenny probably would have succeeded if someone from the mansion hadn’t called to stop him.

“I saved you the trouble. That way there is no rush for you, of course.” He stepped aside from the door and Eren’s heart sank at the sight.

No, please, not here.

“Eren!” Mikasa cried at the sight of him, rushing into the room before tossing her bag aside to sit on the bed next to him. “What happened to you?” She reached up to touch the bandaged cuts on his face.

The concern in her black eyes made his stomach drop. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “Just got in a fight.”

She rolled her eyes. “It figures you would. Are you okay, Armin?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Eren got more of the beating than me,” his voice called back. 

“There, you’ll be good as new. I had her sent over here as fast as we could for you.” Kenny was still smiling like it was the nicest thing in the world he could have done.

Eren narrowed his eyes at the man as Mikasa looked over Eren’s arm. “How did you find her?” He tried to keep his voice calm, not wanting to alert Mikasa something was wrong.

“It was easy,” Kenny waved it off. “There’s a guest room being set up for her too.”

If Eren had his arm he would have lunged at Kenny because Eren knew exactly what it was. She was the hostage. With her here under Kenny’s watch, he knew Eren wouldn’t do anything. He couldn’t do anything, not with Mikasa’s life in danger now.

Eren closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted was for Mikasa to realize what was going on; that she was his weakness and Kenny knew it, and he was going to use her against Eren. 

“Eren?” Mikasa’s voice made him look back to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just wondering when you’re gonna hit me over the head with a wrench.”

She laughed which was already brightening up the dim room. “Not this time. I was worried about you the whole time in. I’m just happy to see you okay.” She reached down to grab her bag.

Eren looked back up to the doorway, his eyes glaring and his hands in fists at the bed. Kenny was not going to get away this. “Yeah, me too.” 


	10. Hercules

_Anon requested Hercules and Eren/Mikasa_

* * *

“Jaeger, if I catch you day dreaming one more time, I’m gonna punt you to Olympus myself,” Levi grunted from his spot standing on a broken marble pillar.

Eren resisted any joke about Levi needed to stand on something for Eren to look up at him, thinking the glare in his trainer’s eyes was enough to keep Eren’s mouth shut. “Sorry, Sir,” he said, reaching up to scratch the back of head. “What were you saying?”

Levi sighed, dropping down to sit down on the pillar, crossing his arms against his chest. “Please enlighten me, what has the young hero’s mind instead of the important things like gaining more control over your abilities so you can save more people and scare less people.”

Leave it to Levi to tell it like it was. “Uhh…well…” Eren wasn’t quite sure what to tell him but it was certainly not the truth. If Levi knew he’d been day dreaming about a girl, Levi really would punt him to Olympus. It was different though, this wasn’t just some girl off the street or some girl that he saved from a monster, this was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Not only that, she didn’t even need him to save her, she was perfectly capable of kicking some monster’s ass all by herself. Eren had never met anyone like her before. “Armin said there was some party tonight at the house so…I was thinking about what…to…wear?”

Levi gave him a look that made Eren think it might have been better to just tell him the truth in the first place.

“It was that bratty girl again wasn’t it?”

Eren shrugged feeling a bit embarrassed at getting caught. “Maybe?”

“Jaeger, how many times have I told you? You need to-”

“To be focused on the task ahead, not the distractions along the way. I know,” Eren finished from memory, leaning up against the nearby tree.

“You’ll have plenty of times to do whatever the hell you want with girls when you’ve mastered your abilities. Now go through the course until you get a better time.”

Eren was pretty sure Levi never even had a girlfriend before but he very well couldn’t argue with the person who had been training him for years, and the person who helped him become a hero in the first place. He pushed himself off the tree and positioned himself to run, when he heard a scream.

He was alerted instantly, but this wasn’t a “help I’m in trouble!” scream; this was an “Oh my gods, there he is!” scream. Eren turned his head to see a crowd of women running across the training grounds behind his home. Other heroes might have loved it, but Eren wasn’t so much a fan of  _that_ kind of attention. He looked up to Levi in a slight panic.

“Go out through the gardens,” Levi sighed, jumping off the pillar. “I’ll deal with them.”

Eren hoped Levi wasn’t going to deal with them like he dealt with Eren when he was in trouble, but there was no time to think about that at the moment. He ran towards the green hedges that surrounded the large gardens Levi took care of on his down time.

Eren was just about to turn down to one of the exits back to his house when he heard a whistle. He stopped in his tracks, glancing over his shoulder to see the girl of his daydreams leaning up against one of the statues. “Mikasa,” he said. “How did you get back here?”

“I have my ways,” she said, that small smile on her lips. “Come with me.”

Eren didn’t need to be told twice. He checked to make sure Levi wasn’t following him and darted to follow Mikasa behind one of the arches that overlooked the path. “Do you often hang out in Levi’s gardens?” he asked, keeping his pace even with hers as they walked, a few birds flying out in front of them.

She snorted. “Only when the midget isn’t here.”

“That’s smart,” Eren said, though he double checked to make sure Levi wasn’t right behind them. “But what are you doing here?”

She nodded back towards the training grounds. “Saving you for once.”

Eren reached to scratch the back of his head as he laughed. “Yeah, well, thanks for that. I don’t mind being popular, I mean that’s what I want but I’m not too much a fan of the attention.”

Mikasa glanced over to him. “A hero who doesn’t like attention? That’s a little odd don’t you think?”

Eren was pretty sure at this point no one was following him; they were too far into the maze of gardens now that probably only Levi could find them  _if_ he came looking. Which he would once he realized Eren didn’t make it back to the house but that gave Eren a little bit of time. He sat himself down at one of the stone benches that over looked a pond and fountain and Mikasa did the same.

“Maybe,” Eren shrugged. “But I’m not exactly in it for the attention so to speak.”

Mikasa gestured for him to continue.

“It’s a bit complicated,” Eren shrugged, “But you know that my dad is the big guy up there.” Eren gestured to the sky. “And the only way I can join him again is if I become a hero which is why Levi started training me on that island until we came here to his main house. As much as I love to help people, I need to be a hero in my dad’s eyes not just the people’s eyes.” He paused. “And I’m not quite sure what to do when the girls chase after me like that; that’s a new one for me.”

Mikasa laughed, covering her mouth as she did but Eren was sure she had the prettiest laugh he had ever heard. “I find that hard to believe. You’re telling me they never chased you before you were a hero?”

Eren rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t always this…” he gestured down to his body that had only grown with muscle mass as he got older and trained under Levi. “I was more like…” Eren gestured to a statue of some scrawny guy trying to lift up a pail of water while a woman looked on. “That guy.”

Mikasa laughed again and her hand swatted at Eren’s arm causing goose bumps to rise on his skin. “I’m sure that guy had a heart of gold just like this guy.”

Eren felt a smile pulling at his lips as he looked over to her. “He sure didn’t have much else going for him.”

“I find that hard to believe. I would have liked to know him too.” A smile came over her lips as she leaned in slightly to him. “I bet he’d have more time to hang out with me.”

Eren could nearly feel her breath on his lips. “I always have time for you.” He tentatively reached one hand up brushing some of her black hair out of her face as he leaned into her, his lips almost on hers.

“Not if you actually focus on your training for once.”

Eren nearly jumped off the bench when he heard Levi’s voice. Eren snapped his head over to see his trainer standing in front of them, arms crossed against his chest and eyes narrowed. “Oh, uh, we were just…I was just…”

“Move it, Jaeger,” Levi said, shoving his thumb in the direction of the training grounds. “We have work to do. You can slack off on your own time, not mine.”

Eren pushed himself to his feet as he turned to give Mikasa a weak smile. “I’ll see you at dinner?”

She nodded, giving him a smile back before glaring over to Levi.

Levi didn’t seem to care; he was still staring at Eren until he started to walk back the way he and Mikasa had come. Levi reached up to hit Eren on the backside of the head as he walked by, giving a look to Mikasa. “Go back to the house and do something useful that doesn’t involve distracting him.”

Mikasa gave him a dark look before she stood to her feet walking in the opposite direction, but not without one last look to Eren.

Levi hit him again when he caught Eren staring after her.

He rubbed the back of his head as he followed Levi back to the fields. Eren supposed that’s what he got for falling for his trainer’s little sister. 


	11. How to Train Your Dragon

_**Anonymous:**  heeeey i was wondering if you could do an eremika as hiccup and astrid au fanfic??_

* * *

It hadn’t taken Mikasa that long to find Eren; she did know where all his hiding places were. This time it was up in one of the mountains that surrounded the village. There was a small hidden path she followed, leading her through a small cave that opened up into a mountain lake. She felt the crisp water misting over her from the waterfall as she walked into the area. It was like a small oasis; green grass, bright flowers that seemed like they glowed at night, and a cool breeze that blew her armor and furs lightly around as she continued to walk along trail until she could see what seemed like whole word over the horizon. It really was just more fields and mountains but it was beautiful none the less.

Eren was sitting on the edge of the mountain, one leg hanging over and the other pressed up against his chest with his chin propped up on his knee. His eyes normally full of life and color looked blandly over the view that surrounded them. He was bundled up similar to her, in the dark colors of the coming winter fabrics and furs covering the parts that his armor didn’t but of course his brown hair was still sticking up everywhere like he hadn’t bothered with it this morning; which Mikasa knew he didn’t.

She saw him glance behind, seeing her quietly approaching before turning back to the mountains.

“I should’ve known you’d be the one to find me,” Eren said with just a hint of a smile on his lips but it left as soon as it was there.

“That’s because it’s always me or Armin who can find you,” she said sitting down on the ledge next to him, letting both her legs dangle over the side of the mountain. “What we didn’t know was why you’ve been gone all day.”

Eren shrugged, the wind ruffling his hair as it blew around in the wind.

Something he didn’t want to talk about obviously, but Mikasa knew Eren, she knew him her whole life and she knew nothing good came when Eren bottled his emotions up. She reached over to place her hand over his. “You can tell me,” she said. “You know you can tell me anything.”

Eren laced his fingers with hers as he looked over to her. “My dad…” he started. “My dad is starting to get me ‘ready’ to be Chief of the village. By ready I mean lecturing me all the time about it.”

“Really? The Chief’s only son. I would have never guessed that would happen.”

Eren nudged her with his shoulder but there was a small smile on his lips. “You know what I mean and you very well know I am not meant to be Chief of anything let alone a whole village.”

Now, that she knew was wrong. Eren was a leader if she ever saw one, but he just didn’t see it for himself yet. “I don’t know about that.”

Eren snorted. “Yeah, please. My dad is much better off having Armin be Chief or something.”

“Eren,” Mikasa laughed lightly. “You’re meant to be Chief; it’s in your blood. I’m pretty sure Armin would kill you if he thought you were putting his name in to be the next Chief.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I just…” he sighed, his eyes looking back out over the mountains. “Who am I to be a leader? All I’ve done my whole life was run away from this place, dreaming of other worlds of other places to explore. How could I possibly lead my own people when all I want to do is get away from here?”

Mikasa leaned her head against his shoulder. “Because you love them. There’s nothing wrong with traveling and exploring as long as you remember who you are and where you come from. I’m sure there’s plenty of people in the village who would follow you if you wanted to lead expeditions.” A smile pulled at her lips. “Armin and I always have.”

“And you two were both always there when my parents were there to yell at us when Levi dragged us back.”

Mikasa laughed at the memories, and there were many of them. It seemed like a weekly thing; they would run off and see how much they could find until Levi dragged them back kicking and screaming while he grunted about the Captain of the militia being a glorified babysitter.

“I could never escape my dad and his ‘You know better, son’,” Eren’s voice dropped to mimic his father’s tone. “‘Mikasa and Armin would follow you anywhere. You need to be more responsible for them and blah blah blah’.”

“Well, he wasn’t wrong, about us following you everywhere. I don’t think the three of us have ever been separated for more than a day.”

“I dunno, Armin was smart sometimes. There were times he wouldn’t come just because he knew better, but you.” Eren glanced down at her. “You followed me no matter what.”

Mikasa looked up at him with a smile. “Someone had to keep you safe.” She paused for a moment as he watched her. “I’d follow you anywhere.”

Eren leaned over to press a kiss to her lips. “Even if it makes you wife of the Chief.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Especially so.”

He laughed and shook his head as he jumped up to his feet, reaching his hands down to help her up. “You finally want to be able to boss your brother around?”

“No, well…maybe a little but that’s not what I meant.” Mikasa took his hands as he pulled her up to feet. She knew he pulled her too hard on purpose so she’d fall right into him but she didn’t mind, not when she felt his hands wrap around her lower back, holding her close to him. “What I meant,” she said with a smile as she put her arms up around his neck, playing lightly with his hair. “Was that I think you would make a good Chief, you’re a leader even if you don’t want to admit it. People listen to you, they’d follow you and you care about them. You want the best for your home even if your head is in the clouds. That’s why you’d be a good Chief. You have the heart for it, and that’s what matters.”

He tilted his head down till his lips were pressed to hers again causing Mikasa to give a content sigh against his mouth. Eren might have never dreamed he’d be Chief of the village but Mikasa never dreamed she’d get to stand her and kiss the boy she loved for so long.

He broke away with a quick peck to her cheek before turning towards the path she had followed to get here. “We should probably go back before my dad sends out the dogs.”

She laced her fingers with his as they started to head back to the lake and the path down to the village. “I told him I’d find you. Besides, we aren’t kids, you’re dad trusts us now. He hasn’t sicked my brother on us in years.”

“Which is a good thing. Sometimes it would have gotten real awkward real fast for everyone involved.”

Mikasa hit him on the shoulder but she was laughing.

“And it’s you my dad trusts, not me. ‘Eren, why aren’t you more like Mikasa’,” he dropped his voice again. “‘She’d never gets lost for a day in the wild grasses because she tripped over a rock and knocked herself out’.”

“Eren,” Mikasa laughed as she tried to swat at him again.

“‘She’d know to watch the sun setting so she didn’t end up on a mountain side for half the night until Levi dragged her by the back of her collar the whole way home’.”

They walked through the small cave, Mikasa’s laughter echoing off the walls as she tried to get him to stop.

“‘Maybe Armin too’,” Eren kept going with face that looked like he was trying to mimic his father’s stern looks. “‘He’s got enough brains for the lot of you and enough sense to keep out of where you shouldn’t be going’.”

“C’mon now, Eren, I don’t think I sound quite like that.”

Mikasa had to cover her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter when she saw Chief Grisha Jaeger standing at the opening of the cave, his arms crossed and one eyebrow arched.

“I’ve been listening to it for seventeen years, Dad,” Eren said, though his cheeks were a little red at getting caught. “You sound just like that.”

Grisha watched Eren for another moment before laughing himself. “You,” he said, reaching a hand out to clasp Eren’s shoulder. “Are your mother’s child.” He gave Mikasa a smile. “Thank you for finding him, dear. I know he’s always in good hands with you. I’m just glad he learned to smarten up and see what was always in front of his face. I was worried there for a while that he didn’t even have eyes let alone-”

“Alright, alright,” Eren said, shrugging off his dad’s hand. “Enough pickin’ on me. Lead the way back to the village, Chief.”

Grisha chuckled but stepped in front of them. “Armin’s waiting for you by the docks. He said he has something he wants to show you two so head down there and come back up for dinner. Petra cooked for us tonight.”

Eren groaned, though his hand was still tight around Mikasa’s. “I hate eating with Levi. He still threatens to chop my fingers off.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t shove your hands into the food on the table. We aren’t animals, you know.”

“Dad, we’re Vikings.”

Mikasa couldn’t help but smile as she watched Grisha tilt his head back to say something else to Eren who, of course, had a quip back. She realized it wasn’t really as much that Eren didn’t think he could be a good Chief. Though it was probably some of it, but she also thought it was more that Eren never wanted anyone but his father to be Chief. 

 


	12. Kingdom Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been years since I played the first one (and only the first one and not even the whole thing haha) the beginning of the game stuck out to me right away. Also, seriously, how did they expect to leave the island with a flimsy little raft?

_Anon asked for a Kingdom Hearts crossover_

* * *

“Eren?”                                                        

Of course he was always with Mikasa and Armin; he’d never go without them. Eren turned around from giant tree he had been looking at to see Mikasa standing behind him. She was smiling at him, not looking too interested in the forest around them. He tried to answer her but the world shifted around him, taking them to some kind of beach. It was different from the island beach though; it was far vaster and covered in people Eren had never seen before.

“Eren!”

He couldn’t see Mikasa this time, but he could still hear her. He tried to get through the crowd to find a glimpse of her dark hair, or the red scarf she always wore, but there were so many people he could barely move.

“Eren!” she called again.

“I’m…” he struggled, the people starting to push him away from her voice. “Wait!”

The world shifted again, this time bringing him up in a completely empty market, like it had been frozen in time.

“Eren?” Mikasa called again but this time he couldn’t see her at all.

“Where are you?” he called back. “Where’s Armin?”

There was an eerie silence after that, like he was the only person in this world. It was a beautiful city he was in, but no matter how far he wandered he couldn’t find anyone, let alone Mikasa and Armin. A soft sort of music started to play, breaking the silence. Eren tried to follow it but he couldn’t find the source or even what it was.

“Eren!”

The sound of his name snapped him out of his dreams and had him blinking up at the blue sky above him.

“You sleep like the dead,” Mikasa said, as her head came into his view.

He reached up to swat her away, while trying to ignore the way his heart was racing from the dream. He had never had one quite like that before.

“Where’s Armin?” Eren yawned as he sat up, stretching his arms over his head. It wasn’t the first time he’d fallen asleep under the tropical sun and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Gathering supplies like you were supposed to be doing.” Mikasa took a seat on the ground next to him, her back brushing up against him.

Eren felt a twinge of guilt; he knew there was something he should have been doing. “What’s left?”

“Nothing but putting it together,” Armin said, taking a seat in front of them.

Eren opened his mouth to apologize but Armin was already smiling. “It’s okay, Mikasa and I got everything ready. It just needs to be built and we can leave in the morning.”

In the morning, they were leaving in the morning. It had been their plan for as long as they could remember up till now, all three of them fifteen years old and leaving this island and seeing the world. “I’ll go get started on that.” Eren went to stand up, but Mikasa pulled him back down to the ground.

“It can wait a moment,” Armin laughed, pulling at some weeds near his feet. “Can you believe it?”

Eren shook his head. “No, not at all, but it’s just like we wanted, to see everything outside the island.” He glanced over to Mikasa who had nudged her mouth under her scarf. They always teased her for wearing her scarf with even her bathing suits but Eren could barely picture her without it. It seemed like so long ago when he found her on the far side of the island all alone. He told her that night they would always be together, and tomorrow morning wasn’t about to change that

Armin let out a whistle to get Eren’s attention.

Eren looked back to see that knowing grin on Armin’s face. Eren felt his cheeks get hot as he kicked over to Armin’s legs. “I’m gonna go work on the raft since I was the slacker that fell asleep. I’ll see you guys soon.” Eren waved as he jumped down from the small hill down to the beach below.

He had already kicked off his sandals somewhere, the soft sand sliding over his feet as he walked over to the place where Armin and Mikasa had left all the wood, rope, and supplies. They built many different rafts over the years and finally perfected the one that would take three of them to sea. He sat down on the sand and started to wrap the long logs like Armin taught him.

The sun was bright over him as he worked but it was nothing he wasn’t used to; he wasn’t even sure his tanned skin could burn. It made sense since Eren was from here his whole life, well, Armin was too and he always burned. Mikasa was the only one who wasn’t born here which was another reason they wanted to leave, to find her home that she couldn’t remember.

Eren felt a smile pull at his lips as he pulled down the next log to wrap, his shirt tossed away to the side of him on the beach. Armin could tease him all he wanted but it was hard not to feel the way he did. She was the most beautiful thing Eren ever saw from the moment he met her and having her always by his side never changed that.

“How’s it going?” Mikasa asked from behind him.

He turned his head to see her walking over to inspect his work; the sun was already setting over the ocean. “Almost done, just a few more logs.”

“It looks good,” she said, sitting down next to him. “But it won’t be perfect until you hang up this.” She held up a folded up sail, something she had been working on for weeks now.

“Hey, it’s all done,” Eren smiled as he pulled out another log to keep tying them up.

She nodded and placed it back in her lap, her eyes looking out over the ocean.

Eren knew Mikasa was happy with them, but he couldn’t imagine knowing there was somewhere else out there that he knew he belonged to. “We’ll find your home, I promise, Mikasa.”

She turned back to him, a smile on her face that nearly made his heart stop. “I am home. Home is where you are.”

Eren felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched her. He could feel himself leaning into her; he felt her warm breath lightly on his lips, the fading sunlight reflecting against her face.

“Slacking off again?”

Eren nearly jumped out of his skin as Armin crouched down near them. “Obviously not,” Eren huffed trying to catch his breath. “I’m almost done.”

Armin laughed as he reached over to help pull the last few logs down while Mikasa attached the sail to a few thinner logs. Eren couldn’t look at the either of them while they worked for fear of his face turning red. He wanted to tell Mikasa how he felt but he couldn’t, not when she had a whole other place out there somewhere. He needed her to be able to see her home again.

The work went by much faster with more hands and by the time the moon rose, the raft was done. Armin clasped a hand over both Eren and Mikasa’s shoulders as they looked at their one way off the island. “It’s a beautiful night, I’m sure it will be a perfect morning to leave.”

He shouldn’t have jinxed it.

Eren woke up in his bed to the sharp sound of thunder outside and rain pelting down. He didn’t even have time to be disappointed; he had to get the raft off the beach before the waves took it out to sea without them. He threw on the first bits of clothing he could and headed straight down the beach.

He expected the ocean to be a mess with the storm he was hearing but the moment his feet hit the sand, it was all calm not even a drop of rain. The raft was sitting right where they left it. Had he been dreaming?

“Eren!”

Mikasa’s voice sent chills down his spine. It was not her usual call; she was upset, something was going on. He ran towards the direction of her voice, his feet slipping in the sand and nearly causing him to fall.

“Eren!” her voice called again.

“I’m here!” he tried to shout back as he ran but as he rounded the side of the island something stopped him dead in his tracks. Mikasa wasn’t anywhere to be found, but monsters that loomed high over him were. The thunder crashed again as the monsters seemed to spot him, dark hands reaching down for him. He wanted to run but he couldn’t, they had Mikasa, he couldn’t just leave her.

He darted away from their hands, learning quickly they were big but not very fast. Thunder shook the ground, and Eren had to wonder if it was ever thunder at all. “Mikasa!” he tried to call seeing if she would answer him.

There was nothing but the agitated groans of the monsters trying to go for him.

“Mikasa!”

A strong hand grabbed so tightly around Eren that it knocked the wind out of him. He tried to struggle out but he couldn’t move as the monster brought him up to its face. “No,” he grunted still trying to move. He couldn’t die like this. He couldn’t just leave Mikasa and Armin to this fate, not when they needed Eren to man the raft in the morning. They had to get outta here.

“No!” he shouted.

A bright light flashed through the area but then there was nothing but darkness.

“Hey, kid,” an unfamiliar voice spoke but all it did was make Eren’s head hurt.

“What?” he grumbled trying to roll over, but two hands stopped him.

“You okay, kid?”

Eren let his eyes flutter open to see a blond haired man sitting over him, one who for sure wasn’t Armin. Eren sat up and jumped back away from him, his back hitting a wall.

“Hey, hey,” the man held his hands up. “Easy, I’m Hannes, I run a shop in this town. I saw you passed out here and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Town? Eren looked around to see many buildings surrounded him, but there was nothing like this on the island. “Where am I?” he muttered. Before Hannes could answer, Eren spotted something on the man’s shoulder. “Where did you get that?” Eren dove for the red scarf, sliding it off Hannes with no effort.

“I found it on the ground when I was walking back to the store, shortly before I found you. Belong to you?”

Eren shook his head. “To my friend…she’s about my height with short black hair and…there should be another boy, shorter than me with blond hair. Have you seen them?”

Hannes looked thoughtful for a moment but he shook his head. “Not that I can remember but there’s been a lot of folks coming and going through here recently. Something strange is going on leaving most this town empty save for the few who showed up without knowing it like you.”

Eren stood up to his feet, not caring anymore where he was. “Where are the others I need to talk to them.”

Hannes stood up to his feet. “Well, I’ll lead you to them, but they don’t know much more than you I’d think. C’mon, I’ll show you the way.”

Eren looked down at the scarf in his hands; it was Mikasa’s without a doubt. She had been here and maybe even Armin too. Eren wrapped the scarf around his neck before following Hannes; Mikasa would kill him if he got it lost.

He was going to find them, no matter what it took.


	13. Moulin Rouge

_**Anonymous:**  Eremika + Moulin Rouge?_

* * *

Eren didn’t know what made him do it, what made him climb into a stranger’s window. Granted Connie and Armin had helped, one who was for the plan and one for against it but when Eren saw her down in the showroom, he couldn’t just leave it alone. He had to see her again.

He closed the large window behind him and jumped down onto her floor. The room looked like a dressing room of sorts; costumes hanging up along racks and racks, a vanity covered with makeup, hair pieces, lights shining everywhere. 

He heard someone behind a nearby closed door. It had to be her. 

Eren felt his heart rate speed up as panic set in. What was he doing? He never did stupid stuff like this; like up and packing his whole life and moving here, giving up a job, security, and then sneaking into a dancer’s room but, she was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. From the moment she walked out on that stage, her black hair shimmering, and her body moving to the music, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

There were other dancers there and around her, but she was the star and he knew it. He just needed to see her, to talk to her.

The door knob started to turn. Despite his desire to be near her, he knew she was probably gonna call security the moment she saw a strange man in her room. He bolted towards the window but a voice stopped him.

“Can I help you?”

He slowly turned around to see her, Mikasa, standing in the middle of the room in a long gown that accented every part of her body. She didn’t look angry or upset, merely amused.

“I uh…” Eren said stepping away from the window.

She walked towards him before he could answer, taking his breath away. “I remember you. You in the audience tonight weren’t you?”

“Ah, yeah,” he said, one hand reached up to the back of his neck.

“I don’t get many visitors by window.” Mikasa walked away from him to take a seat by her vanity. “Is there something you’d like?”

“I just…” Eren took a few steps after her. “Wanted to see you.” He realized how dumb it sounded but he wasn’t sure what else to say.

She laughed. “Well judging by the state of your clothes it would be just looking, I doubt you’d have enough money to pay for me.” She pulled out some powder and started to dab it on her face. “But the gesture is sweet.”

Eren felt a pang in his chest. He wondered what kind of life she must have had to view the world in just how much someone would pay. “You’d probably be right about that. I do have other things to offer though.”

She turned around to look at him. “Don’t get me wrong, you have quite the looks but that’s not everything.”

He walked over till he was standing by her chair; he saw her glance up at him in her reflection. “What about love?”

She laughed again, putting her powder back on her vanity. “Love? If you pay enough, I can give plenty of love. Who needs the real thing?”

Eren leaned up against the vanity, his eyes meeting hers. “Have you ever seen love? I mean, real love.”

For a moment her mask dropped, her eyes looking sadder than Eren ever saw in a human before. It came right back up, as a smile pulled at her lips. “It doesn’t matter what I have or what I haven’t.”

Eren reached down to tilt her chin up to meet her eyes again. He could hear her breath catch in her throat ever so slightly. “Then let me show you.”


	14. Mulan

_selahinstyles_ _asked for “Mulan” and Eren/Mikasa :3_

* * *

 

Mikasa could think of a great deal of better things she’d rather be doing than listening to her comrades chatter on and on. She looked up at the sky, the sun beating down on her back as her horse trotted along across the field. They hadn’t actually reached the gate of the wall yet, so Captain Jaeger kept the pace slow, not wanting to tire everyone out before they even made it outside. 

She felt a smile pull at her lips. Never in her life did she imagine she’d be calling Eren Captain. She could almost see him from her spot in the convoy, Armin riding next to him. Of course, it had been her intention to join the squad he was leading, but it was a bit harder than she expected to see his face everyday again, and constantly hide hers. 

“Hey! What about you, Makoto?”

Mikasa snapped her head down at the sound of Jean’s voice. He was riding next to her, smiling easily as he waited her answer.

“Uhh.” She really shouldn’t have been tuning out their conversation.

“Oh stop being so modest.” Connie was at her other side suddenly, clearly also interested in her answer. “You of all people have to have a girl back home, yeah?”

Mikasa breathed a sigh of relief that she knew the question, but quickly wished she didn’t. “Nah,” she answered waving her hand. “I kept to myself.”

“Bullshit, girls love that quiet guy thing. You had to have some girls after you.” Jean didn’t seem like he was going to let this go anytime soon. 

She resisted sighing aloud; she lied about her gender and joined the military to look after Eren, not be buddies with all the guys. Not that she minded Jean and Connie, but revealing too much about herself was dangerous.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, giving into what they wanted to hear. “I mean some of the girls in my neighborhood liked to hang around but like I said, I kept to myself.”

Both the boys made sounds of disapproval. “C'mon, even  _Connie_  is saying he has a girl back home. You  _have to.”_

_“_ Shut up, Jean! I do!”

Jean looked like he didn’t buy a word of it and well, knowing the way Connie like to tell stories, Mikasa didn’t blame Jean.

“I met her in the market one day, I swear. And she was buying some food and she was just so pretty and… Stop laughing, Jean I’m telling the truth!”

“What are you guys yelling about back here?”

Mikasa felt chills run down her spine at the sound of Eren’s voice. She looked up to see him and Armin riding with them, clearly having slowed down to hear the conversation.

“Connie just lying about his girlfriend,” Jean explained with a shrug.

“I am not! Her name is-”

“What about you, Eren? Care to share if being Captain actually helps you get women?” Jean looked like he didn’t really care, or at least was pretending not to care as he asked.

“I’m not getting into this with you all,” Eren rolled his eyes, avoiding the question.

The thought of him answering it only made Mikasa’s heart drop into her stomach. She was always with Armin and Eren up until the day they left. She’d know if there were any girls. Right?

“Oh come on,” Armin reached out to shove Eren’s shoulder. “Don’t hold back on them.”

Armin’s encouragement didn’t help. What a traitor.

“Yeah, Eren!” Connie had recovered from his earlier frustration. 

“Okay okay,” Eren chuckled. “There was one girl back home.”

The others in the group made a lot of noise at Eren’s words clearly trying to embarrass their captain. Mikasa tried to smile so she wouldn’t look out of place but her stomach was turning at the thought of what she was about to hear. 

“She’s a sweet thing, very calm and collected. She’s always been there with me as long as I can remember but she could kick my ass at the drop of a hat if she wanted to. And she has.”

“More than once.”

“Thank you, Armin.” Eren gave him a look and Mikasa felt her heart stop beating.

“Did you tell her before you left, that you’d be back for her?” Connie asked.

Eren shrugged while Armin snickered. “I tried to, but she wasn’t having it that I was going so we fought more than anything.”

Mikasa gripped onto her reigns; she was afraid if she let go, she’d fall off her horse. She hadn’t meant to fight with him, she just didn’t want him to go, she didn’t want him to risk his life but he stormed off without another word to her.

“I regretted it the moment she was out of my sight, but what can you do." 

"You stop being stubborn and go back and kiss her is what you do." 

"See, Armin, here still hasn’t forgiven me." 

"He’s just lucky she’s as loyal as they get. Any other girl would be off married by now, but I bet she’s out there trying to find a way to this dumbass.”

Mikasa opened her mouth, afraid her voice would come out shaking or worse, she wouldn’t even be able to speak. “What’s her name?” It was a stupid question, but she had to know, she had to hear it.

Eren glanced behind him, like it was the first time he realized she was there. He looked at her for a moment and she almost thought he could see right through her.

“Her names Mikasa, Mikasa Ackerman.”


	15. Mulan II

_**Anonymous:**  Hey lyssa <3 just here to tell you that i loved your writing and i keep wondering if you could do a part.2 of your eremika mulan au <3 i just wanted to see how eren would react seeing mikasa there hahaha_

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Eren couldn’t stop pacing his tent. They almost died out there, they all almost died. Not like he didn’t expect that, but at the same time he was the captain now and this was his squad and he almost walked them to their deaths. If it hadn’t been for Makoto and his quick thinking all of them…Armin, everyone would be dead.

Even Eren got caught, he was in the hand of a damn titan but Makoto, he swung in there and saved him like it was nothing. Eren was about to get eaten and this man saved his life. In the process they both had fallen to the ground, Makoto getting more hurt than Eren. 

He was currently pacing his tent and driving himself insane over it. He was the captain he should’ve been the one saving Makoto, not the other way around. Yet, when Eren thought he was going to die, all he could think of was the way he left Mikasa and how heartbroken she’d be if he died and the last words were him yelling at her.

Eren sighed and finally sat himself down in a chair. Makoto was in the medical tent getting worked on and Mikasa was miles and miles away. At this point all he wanted to do was sleep but he had to know Makoto was okay.

“Sir.” That was the voice of one of the medical workers. 

Eren instantly stood up. “Yes, please, come in. Is he okay?”

The worker shifted his weight. “Yes, there was no permanent damage but we did find another…problem.”

“Well, stop beating around the damn bush and tell me.”

The medical worker was clearly uncomfortable but he nodded. “Makoto is not a he. We discovered it when we had to cut open the uniform.”

Eren had to grab a hold of the table in front of him. “Excuse me?”

The worker lifted the flap and gestured someone else outside. Before Eren knew it there was someone on their knees in front of the medical worker, short black hair around her shoulders, and a blanket over her shoulders though Eren saw where her chest was bound. Most of all he noticed the face, the way her eyes refused to meet his, the distraught look on her face she was trying to mask.

Eren’s stomach clenched. “Leave us.”

“But, Sir-”

“I said leave us.”

The medical worker saluted and left the tent. Even with the other person gone she still wouldn’t look at him. 

Eren had to go over there himself and stand in front of her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

No response, no look.

“Your Captain is speaking to you, don’t you dare ignore me.”

Still nothing. 

Eren bent over and grabbed a hold of her chin with his hand, forcing her face to turn towards him but she still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Look at me when I’m talking to you. Mikasa.”

Her eyes flickered up to his at her name and he wasn’t sure if she was gonna cry or punch him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Like I could just let you go. Like I could let yourself get killed. And for what, for what, Eren?”

“For freedom, you know that. You know that’s why I did this so me, Armin, and you could be free.” 

“How would I be free if you’re dead?”

Eren let out a frustrated groan and dropped his hand from her face, pushing himself back up to his feet. “I left knowing you were safe. That I left you within the walls where you would be safe from all this shit and yet here you are. All this time that I could sleep easy cause at least I knew you were alive you were really almost dying right alongside me. How fair is that, Mikasa? Tell me.”

Tears started to fall from her eyes and his heart clenched. “I’d rather die with you than be a thousand miles away with no idea if you were coming home to me. Do you know how horrible of a feeling that is? To wake up and wonder if the person you love is even still alive? If he’s even coming back?” 

Eren’s heart jumped up to his throat when she uttered the word love. He reached his hands up to rub over his face before he dropped down to his knees in front of her. He grabbed a hold of her face with his hands, thumbs rubbing over her tears. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, every second of every day. Today, when I almost died, all I could think of was you. Mikasa, you almost died today, for me. How could I ever forgive myself?”

“I’d do it for you in a heartbeat and I know you’d do the same.”

God, she was right and she was right here. After all that time away she had always been right here; her warmth, her scent, her presence. He didn’t even know he was kissing her until he felt her gasp against his lips.

She kissed him back just as fiercely. The blanket fell from her shoulders as she reached her arms around his neck, pulling herself into his lap.

He groaned, running his hands down her back and keeping her close to him. Finally, he felt whole again. “How many know?” he asked trailing his lips down her neck.

“The two medical workers,” she said, one hand reaching up to tangle in his hair. “Armin probably does but he never said anything to me.”

Eren snorted, nipping at her skin before looking back up to her. “You let me help you, and you don’t rush into things and you can stay with us.”

Mikasa gave him a knowing smile. “As long as you do the same.”

He pushed his weight back against her, till she was laying against the blanket, Eren hovering over her and their legs tangled together. “Mikasa?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you. I should’ve said it before I left but I-” He didn’t even get a chance to finish, she pulled his head down against hers kissing him again. 


	16. Mulan III

**Anonymous:**  Oh my glob please please please write that other version of the eremika Mulan Au. It sound like way to much fun.

* * *

 

Jean didn’t care too much for his Captain’s business. Whatever he wanted to do aside from their missions and his commands was completely up to him but there was one thing that was striking Jean as a little odd. He glanced up to where Eren was sitting with his right hand Armin by his side but the other seat was occupied by Makoto.

It was just strange. Makoto was a new recruit, not even been in the military for that long and there he was sitting up with their Captain like it was nothing. It wasn’t a bad thing, just a strange thing.

“Hey,” Jean said, elbowing Connie who was slurping down his soup next to Jean at the table. “Do you think something’s strange with Makoto?”

“Hmm?” Connie lifted his head to look where Jean was gesturing. “No? He hangs out with the Captain now so what?”

“Well, he used to hang out with us.”

“Yeah, that’s probably because he didn’t know anyone else. He likes to hang out with the Captain, big deal.” Connie went back to eating like nothing was the matter, and maybe nothing was the matter but it still bugged Jean.

He tried to finish his meal in peace but he just couldn’t get over the fact that the normally stoic Makoto was laughing with the Captain and Armin. Like really laughing, and the Captain was actually smiling. It was just strange. Maybe it was none of Jean’s business but something just didn’t sit right with him.

Connie bounded out of the cafeteria probably booking it for the dorm where he could sleep before the meeting tonight but Jean hung back until the Captain, Armin, and Makoto left the cafeteria as well. Jean trailed behind trying to look as inconspicuous as he could. Maybe it was nothing, but when he saw Armin wave goodbye and the Captain and Makoto and then those two go off in a completely different direction, Jean was thinking otherwise.

Okay, trailing behind his Captain probably really wasn’t Jean’s brightest idea, but he had to know something. So he followed behind them around base for a little bit. Even if Jean wasn’t good at tracking it really wouldn’t have mattered because the two never looked away from each other. They were both all smiles and laughter despite the impending mission they had that night. As far as Jean was aware Makoto made a full recovery from the last mission and he was ready to head out again with them, but this wasn’t excitement to go back out. This was something else.

Jean followed them almost through the entire base with them doing nothing but talking to each other. He glanced behind him to make sure no one was following him but when he looked back they were gone. Jean halted in his tracks. Did they see him there? Even if they did why did the both of them duck out? This was a pretty abandoned area of the base, half of it still being under construction. Jean kept walking forward though slowly in case they were watching him.

He had completely lost sight of them in one split second. He was about to give up when he heard a laugh. It sent a jolt down his spine. That was a female’s laugh; Jean would know it anywhere, considering he barely saw a girl since he joined the military. Why would there be a girl on base though? He turned his head towards the sound.

It really shouldn’t have been any of Jean’s business he realized as he watched the sight in front of him. Makoto was pressed up against the wall of the building, Captain Jaeger leaning up in front of him. The Captain’s hands were grasped onto Makoto’s hips, his knee nudged between Makoto’s legs. He had his hands tight in the Captain’s hair as they kissed.

Okay, well that was that Jean supposed as he watched wide eyed but he couldn’t say he was expecting  _that._ Did the Captain say he had a girl back home? Yeah, okay, whatever it really was none of his business. He just wanted to get out of there before they noticed him; talk about even more awkward. Of course, it was Jean’s luck that as he stepped back some noise went off nearby by making both Makoto and Captain Jaeger look up at him.

“Jean,” Makoto said, his hand over his mouth, and his voice sound much more feminine than normal. Was he the laugh Jean heard earlier? “It’s really not what it looks like.”

“Uhh,” Jean said, holding up his hands. “Yeah, okay. Look, I’m not judging. Do what you gotta do. ”

“Kirstein,” Captain Jaeger sighed. He had stepped away from Makoto, on hand on his forehead. “Come with me please.”

Jean wasn’t sure if he was in trouble or not. He was inclined to think not since he wasn’t the one making out with a member of his squad. “Alright, but I do want you to know I’m not into the same things as him.”

“Just walk.”

Jean did as he was told.

There was no one around the area but the Captain kept looking around just to make sure.  “Slow down,” he told Jean, leaning in next to him. “This doesn’t leave us. You hear me?”

“Yes, Sir, your secret’s safe with me.”

The Captain sighed again, like he really didn’t want to say what he was about to. Jean wasn’t quite sure what could be worse than the situation he just put them all in. “Makoto is Mikasa.”

Jean stopped in his tracks. Oh.  _Oh._


	17. Nisekoi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did have a hard time making the hate each other because I don’t know if any universe they would really hate each other but I did make it so they didn’t want to be there for their own reasons. Also Nisekoi is too cute for my heart and as are Eren and Mikasa.

_**meliikasa** **:**  i'm still waiting for eremika in nisekoi au_

* * *

 

When Eren lamented to his mother that he wanted a girlfriend, this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. What he meant was “there’s this really cute girl at school but I don’t know if she likes me how I can ask her out?” instead he got his father standing before him and saying “here’s our rival family’s daughter you two are dating now to keep peace in the families.” If that wasn’t bad enough, then he actually got sight of his new “girlfriend”.

Eren had wanted to die.

It’s not like she wasn’t a pretty girl, and it’s not like it was some stranger Eren never met before but it was Mikasa, Mikasa Ackerman. The girl who punched Eren into a wall more times than he could remember, and that’s when they were kids! She moved away before middle school and Eren hadn’t seen her since. Granted, she was a lot prettier than Eren ever remembered but he couldn’t forget the way she had treated him when they were younger. Besides, he already liked someone at school; this was going to ruin everything.

Not to mention become incredibly awkward.

Eren sighed as he walked down the sidewalk, hands shoved in his pockets with Mikasa walking a few steps behind him. “Will you get up here,” he mumbled. “No one’s gonna buy this if you keep walking behind me.”

She didn’t say anything but she did take a couple of quick steps to walk even with him. Eren was beginning to wonder if she ever talked; he hadn’t heard a word out of her mouth since the other day when their parents announced their relationship to the families. Now they were out on a “date” and she had barely looked at him. As much as he didn’t want to do this, it still bugged him; after all they were friends when they were kids.

Eren pulled his red scarf up a little bit from under his jacket; it might have been kinda cold for a walk but his parents practically pushed them out of the house together to put on a good show. “So,” he said, trying to think of something they could talk about just in case someone saw them. “Did you move back to your old house?” Eren remembered it well, also the time she got mad and shoved him into the pool.

Mikasa nodded, both hands in her jacket pockets as she walked.

“Is it the same as you remember?”

Another nod.

Eren nearly threw his hands up in the air in frustration. How was he supposed to work with someone who obviously hated him. “Look,” he said leaning towards her so no one else around would hear. “I know this completely sucks but can you kinda act like you hate me a little less or this is never gonna work and we’re gonna be in big trouble with our parents.”

For the first time all day Mikasa looked up at him. She didn’t look upset or even angry, no, she actually looked surprised. “I don’t hate you, Eren.”

Now he was the one who was surprised. “Well, you could’ve fooled me. You won’t even talk to me.”

Mikasa looked away from him again. “It’s not because…I don’t…” Her cheeks looked like they were getting red, Eren thought it might be because of the cold; she wasn’t exactly dressed for it. “I just thought you hated me, and I felt bad for forcing you in this situation.”

“I don’t  _hate_ you,” Eren shrugged. “You did give me many bruises when we were younger but I didn’t hate you.” He felt awkward, sure, this wasn’t exactly how he wanted his first girlfriend to be like and now he was stuck with her, but it wasn’t her he hated. “I hate this situation, but that’s not your fault. It’s our dumb parents who thought this was a good idea.”

Mikasa nodded but it looked like she was back to not talking. He was about to sigh and just give up on the whole thing when he noticed she might not have been talking, but her jaw was chattering. He looked over to her again and saw how close her arms were to her body, how stiffly she was walking; she was probably freezing. Eren nearly forgot she had moved to a warmer area while she was away.

“Okay, stop,” he said taking a step in front of her.

She looked surprised again, so much so she nearly walked right into him.

“If we’re gonna do this you can’t just sit there and suffer in silence,” he reached up to unwind the scarf from around his neck; he had a heavier jacket on anyway. “We have to be a team and you have to work with me. If anyone saw us they would never fall for it.” He draped the red scarf around her neck and carefully wrapped it around and flicked the remaining tail over her shoulder. “Better?”

She was watching him with wide eyes as one hand reached up to touch the material of the scarf. “Y-yes, thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, just be thankful you have such a good  _boyfriend,”_ he tried to give her a smile but noticed her cheeks were turning red again. He hoped that meant she was actually warming up.

Eren was about to turn away and start walking again but something caught his eye on Mikasa. There was something gold sitting just underneath the lapels of her jacket, attached to a black string; he couldn’t see it very well, but it looked so familiar. “Hey, what’s this?” he looped a finger around the string and pulled it out of her jacket.

The sight of it made his heart stop. It was a gold key; kinda on the small side but it still sparkled under the winter sunlight. “Wh-where did you get this?” he asked trying to keep his voice calm but he felt like someone punched him in the gut.

Mikasa didn’t seem to phased by the question. “I got it from someone when I was younger. I can’t remember who, just a boy I knew.” She paused her eyes looking away from him. “But…he was special. I keep it as a good luck charm and…maybe that I’d meet him again.”

Eren let the key fall from his fingers.

“It’s stupid I know,” Mikasa shrugged clearly trying to brush off the importance.

“No, no, it’s fine,” he said, turning away to start walking again.

Silence settled over them once more but this time Eren couldn’t bring himself to keep talking. He could only bring one hand up to his chest, feeling the cold metal of his locket on his skin. The locket that couldn’t be opened without a key, a key had have given to a girl whom he couldn’t remember who she was; a key that have been given with a promise of love.

Mikasa had a key that was obviously familiar to him.

Holy shit.

What was he supposed to do now?


	18. Nisekoi II

_**Anonymous:**  Do you mind making a continuation of the eremika, nisekoi au? Pleaseee <3_

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Eren thought countless times about whether he should just ask Mikasa about the key but every time he chickened out. What if she thought he was the one that gave it to here? What if he was the one who did give it to her? She couldn’t remember who gave her the key and he couldn’t remember who he gave the key to; it was a handy predicament. They had been childhood friends after all. It was possible that he gave the key to her.

He hit his head on his desk with a groan. This was hopeless. He was never gonna know unless he just asked her but he couldn’t just ask her.

“Is everything okay?”

He jumped in his chair, turning towards his bedroom door.  “Yeah, yeah everything’s fine.” Eren watched Mikasa shrug as she stepped inside his room, plopping down on his bed. It was quite a normal situation for them now, well as normal being forced to date each other could get. She hung out with him after school more often than not, and despite his hesitation at first he didn’t mind too much anymore. Considering the way she tagged along with him everywhere at school, he got the feeling she didn’t have too many friends.

“Done with homework already?” Eren asked, dropping his pencil on the desk and turned to face her.

She nodded, pulling a book from his shelf.

Did he mention she was top of the class too? Yeah, that maybe got a bit annoying every now and then. “Does that mean I get to not do the rest of my homework and get to pretending you’re my girlfriend?”

“Do your homework, Eren,” she snorted, opening the book on her lap.

Her company was nice. She was quiet and kept to herself for the most part but she was also very…warm; Eren didn’t quite know how to explain it. He figured it was just because they were forced to be together all the time but he was finding that he missed her when she wasn’t around.

He was about to turn back to his desk, since he quickly learned she wouldn’t talk to him until he was done, but she had laid down on her stomach, book still laid out in front of her. Her necklace fell from under her shirt, the gold key almost sparkling.

He quickly turned away, trying to focus on his homework. He had to tell her didn’t he? If it’s a silly coincidence so be it, they can laugh it off but what if…what if she was the one he gave the key to? Would that change how he felt about her? Or would it be just some childish sign of affection that had no meaning now? He always wanted to find the girl who had the key cause maybe there was something there still but Mikasa? Would he feel that way about her?

He had grown to be fond of her of course and he liked her around but was he in love with her as a kid? He wanted to say no; she pushed him in a river for Christ’s sake. Still, he remembered spending quite a bit of time with her and Armin when they were kids so it was possible. Eren already tried to ask Armin but he said he didn’t remember anything about it. Granted, Eren kinda thought Armin did and he just didn’t want to say so Eren could figure it out on his own or some shit. Armin was a grand best friend some times.

Eren sighed, and dropped his pencil again. There was no way he was getting any homework done tonight. Maybe if he told Mikasa he’d get them some food she wouldn’t harass him about working. There, that was a good plan. He turned around to follow through with his plan but before he could ask Mikasa what she wanted he saw she was already asleep.

The book fell shut on her hand, her face pressed up against his bed, eyes closed, and breathing softly. Eren had to smile; she just looked so peaceful, so much younger when she slept. He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed a blanket from off the other side of his bed to drape over her. Eren went to carefully pull the book away from her hand so she didn’t roll over and hurt herself, but that gold key around her neck caught his eye again.

She was sound asleep. He could easily just slip it in his locket and see if it worked, that why he could let it go or be able to figure out what to do without her even knowing. Eren reached out and held the key in his fingers; it was still warm from being against her skin. Just one quick motion and he’d know. He’d know one way or another.

Eren tucked the necklace back under Mikasa’s shirt and sat down on the edge of the bed. But he couldn’t do that to her without her even knowing. She even said how much it meant to her, how could he use it without telling her? Eren just didn’t know how he could tell her. With a sigh he looked back over to her, still sleeping soundlessly on his bed.

She really was cute.


	19. Noragami

_**Anonymous:**  How about a crossover of eremika x noragami?_

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Mikasa always liked to be outside; even within the walls, there was always a sense of just little more freedom laying in a green field and staring up at the sky, pretending there was nothing separating her and the outside world. While she was older now, staring up at the sky still gave her those same feelings, except now little puffs of demons floated by her vision every now and then. It was a strange thing to have to get used to but so was the fact that she could leave her own body and basically float along in her spirit, connected to her real body by just a thin purple tail.

Sure it freaked her out when it first happened but the fact she could go anywhere she wanted in this form and only need to worry about nothing hurting her tail helped significantly; that and the people she met from it. A smile pulled at Mikasa’s face at the thought.

“What are you grinning about?” A face was suddenly leaning over hers, his shaggy brown hair nearly falling in her face.

While it might have surprised her at one point, Mikasa just reached a hand up and playfully shoved Eren’s face out of hers. “Nothing,” she said as she sat up.

Eren was sitting cross legged next to her, dressed in his usual clothing and grinning as he watched her.

“I should ask what you’re smiling about,” Mikasa said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

He just shook his head. “You’ll see.”

“I feel like I should be afraid.”

Eren scoffed as he crossed his arms against his chest. “I’m offended. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course,” Mikasa answered without even having to think. It wasn’t always that way, of course, not when a strange man who was claiming he was a god showed up in her room one night. Granted, she had seen enough at that point to believe him and he had saved her life when he didn’t need to; that was enough to earn her trust.

Eren looked up at the sky, running a hand through his hair. It always surprised Mikasa he was older than she could possibly imagine when he looked like a teenager just like her. Well, save for his eyes; those looked like they had seen the world a thousand times over.

His eyes looked down to meet hers and Mikasa found herself quickly looking away. “Where’s Armin?”

Eren rolled his eyes but he was still smiling. “I dunno, he wanted to go read some books somewhere or something. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Shinki quite as smart as him before.”

“Maybe that’s why you actually defeat demons now.”

“Hey!” Eren said, looking a little mock outraged. “I defeated plenty demons before.”

Mikasa had to cover her mouth with her hand to try not to laugh. She was only teasing him just because he got so defensive but she saw Eren fight, she knew he was far more powerful than he held himself.

A smile pulled at Eren’s lips as he watched her. “Maybe I won’t show you what I was going to then.”

“Eren.” She rolled her eyes but she couldn’t resist a smile of her own. “You always say you have to show me something.”

“Well,” Eren stood up to his feet, reaching a hand out to her. “Are you coming?”

As if she would ever say no. Mikasa put her hand in his and in one quick motion she was up in his arms. She glanced up at him, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks. She wanted to yell at him to put her down but Eren just gave her that usual careless smile and started off towards the town. Mikasa tried to hide her face so that no one would see her being carried around by this strange guy but when Eren took one high jump onto a roof, she quickly remembered no one could see them.

These were the moments she enjoyed the most, though she probably wouldn’t tell Eren that; he’d get too smug. She loved feeling so weightless and, well, free. It was a bit terrifying at first, not so much the height but the fact some strange man was carrying her at that height and speed, but Mikasa quickly learned to trust Eren with her life even when danger wasn’t immediately apparent.

He was maneuvering through the rooftops and a few tall trees but Mikasa noticed he was quickly running out of village, the high wall the only thing left in their view. He wasn’t stopping though. Mikasa was about to ask just what he thought he was doing, but suddenly, she felt them jumping even higher in the air.

She had no idea how he did it, but the next thing she knew they were standing on the top of the wall. Mikasa started at Eren with wide eyes. “I…what…what are we doing here?”

Eren shrugged as he sat himself down, legs dangling over the side. “I thought you might want to see a little bit of the world.”

Mikasa carefully walked the short distance to where Eren was sitting so casually like standing on top of the military patrolled walls was no big deal. She was going to tell him to be careful, that even he would get hurt falling from the walls at this height but her breath caught in her throat at the sight in front of her.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

Sure, Mikasa knew what dangers were lurking outside the walls but it didn’t stop what seemed like the whole entire world from being so beautiful.

“Wow,” was the only thing she could say, her eyes wide in amazement.

“I remember when the whole world was like this,” Eren said with a wistful tone to his voice.

“You mean before the titans?” she asked still trying to remember how to breathe.

He nodded. “Before the titans, before the walls, I remember the world.”

Mikasa carefully sat down next to him, and tried not to look down where her legs where hanging. She looked over to him. “Will you tell me about it?”

Eren glanced over to her, those deep eyes meeting hers. He looked conflicted for a moment, like he wasn’t sure if it was something he should talk to her about but something must have changed his mind because she saw a smile on his lips. “Of course, Mikasa,” he said draping his arm around her shoulders giving her a sense of stability and warmth. “Anything for you.”

Her tail fell against the wall they were still on, unconsciously curing around Eren.


	20. Pacific Rim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I were to do another full chapter story it would be a Pacific Rim crossover. I think its one of the best materials for a Shingeki crossover and while I've seen a few good ones, they never got finished which broke my heart haha I still love this little one shot and the temptation to do a full fic haunts me still.

_**this-evening-memory** **:**  eremika + pacific rim au_

* * *

 

Eren tried to keep his head down as he made his way down the hallway to one of the labs he knew Armin would be working in. A few people recognized him as he walked by but at least they had the decency to keep walking and keep their mouths shut. Eren shoved his hands in his pocket, just trying to be able to go find his friend he hadn’t seen in God knows how long. Levi told Eren shortly after he arrived at base that Armin was here and it did set Eren more at ease to know his old friend was safe.

He rapped his knuckles against the metal door that Levi said Armin would be working behind. For a moment there was no movement but the door cracked open and a blond head of hair popped out of the doorway. Armin’s hair was long now, tied up in a ponytail and black rim glasses covered his blue eyes. He looked so much older and yet still the same kid Eren grew up with.

“Hey, buddy.” Eren couldn’t hold back the smile on his face as Armin’s eyes got wide with recognition.

“Eren! I didn’t know you were in already!” Armin reached out to pull Eren into a quick hug. “Come in, I was just taking a break.”

Eren shut the door behind him as he stepped into the room that was more lab equipment than anything else. There were papers and notes all over the wall that he didn’t even have hope to understand if he tried.

“When did you come in?” Armin asked sitting down on a chair and gesturing for Eren to do the same.

“Today actually,” Eren reached up to rub his eyes as he took a seat across from Armin. “I wanted to come see you. It’s been too long.”

Armin smiled. “Yeah far too long.”

Silence fell for a moment, the ghosts of the past sneaking up all around them. If anyone was familiar with the past failures of the Jaegers it was Eren Jaeger himself. His father tried to make things to save the world and while sometimes it worked, it seemed like most of the time nothing ever did. Armin grew up around the program with Eren which is why he assumed Armin was one of the head technicians on base; he knew Jaegers better than anyone. After Eren’s mother was killed and his father’s death though, that was enough for Eren until nearly five years later when he was thrown back into the world he swore he would never return to.

“So,” Armin said, breaking the silence. “Did you see her too?”

Eren didn’t need any clarification to who Armin was talking about. “Yeah,” Eren nodded. The dark eyes he had missed more than anything in the world for those five long years were there to meet him when he flew into the base. “I almost didn’t recognize her.” That was a lie. He would have recognized Mikasa anywhere with the amount of times he saw her in his dreams.

Armin laughed lightly. “Yeah she decided to cut her hair real short a few years ago. She said it was easier to train that way.” He hesitated for a moment as his eyes met Eren’s. “You do know that’s why you’re here don’t you.”

Eren had his suspicions of the reason he was asked to come back and he figured it wasn’t just for his knowledge and past history with the program. He had a feeling Levi was holding back what the real reason they wanted him to come back.

“Mikasa, she’s incredible, as I’m sure you know. She could be the top pilot here easily but…” Armin paused again. “She’s never been able to drift correctly with anyone. We’ve brought in many different recruits, experienced and newbies but it’s a disaster every time.”

Eren ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t quite been expecting that. Mikasa was always the best of the three of them; Eren never thought she’d have any issues.

“Eren, you’re the only one she’s ever successfully drifted with.”

He watched Armin carefully, taking in all the implications he was saying. Levi was vague when he came to Eren asking him to come back but he had no idea that it was because Levi wanted Eren and Mikasa to pilot together again. He figured Mikasa would’ve found another pilot by now, a thought that jabbed him in the chest many times during the long nights alone but it was his choice to leave. He had to live with leaving her behind.

“So Levi wants us to pilot again, huh,” Eren said trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Armin nodded slowly. “It’s Mikasa, you…you and her had a bond that I don’t think anyone else could take the place of. She’s never been able to get past having someone else in her head who wasn’t you, even after…you know, you left. If she’s ever going to be a pilot again, it has to be with you. You’re the only one compatible for her.”

Eren closed his eyes for a moment; he knew Mikasa since she was nine years old and there was no one who loved her more than he did which is why he had left, which is why he swore he would never be a part of this again.  He looked back to Armin. “Well, if Levi thought bringing me here was going to get me back in that suit he has another thing coming.” Eren stood up from his chair flashes of Mikasa’s voice screaming, the way he felt her fear, her absolute despair trying to reach him,  the whole Jaeger getting torn apart around them went across his mind. “I will never put her through that again.”

“I tried to tell him but…” Armin stood up too but there was a smile on his face. “I’m glad you’re back, Eren.”

Despite the conflicting feelings in the pit of his stomach, Eren had to smile too. “Me too, buddy. I missed you.”

Armin clasped him on the shoulder as Armin walked him to the door. “I have some work to finish up but I’ll see you for dinner, okay?”

Eren nodded with a wave as Armin shut the door behind him.

“I haven’t seen him smile so much in a long time.”

Eren turned around to see Mikasa leaning up against the wall watching him. “Take it things haven’t been so hot, huh.”

Mikasa shrugged, her face not betraying any emotion at all.

He hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to her since once Eren landed Levi had ushered Mikasa away for training something he was grateful for. What the hell was he supposed to tell her? He left. He left Armin, Eren left his father’s legacy, he left being a pilot, but most of all he left her. How was he ever supposed to face her again? He did it to protect her but with her dark eyes watching him without a hint of the warm looks she used to give him it only left him with the same empty hole he had since the day he left.

Silence settled over them as Eren had no idea what he should say. She was close enough that he could feel the soothing presence she had always brought to him, the comforting smell off the strawberry shampoo she still must use already relaxing him.  God, he missed her.  

Should he apologize? Should he stand up for the actions he took all those years ago? Eren didn’t know what he should say but having her look at him like that, he had to say something.

“Mika,” he started, her old nickname falling from his lips for the first time since he stormed out. He really didn’t have to think too hard, it just came out of his mouth. “I missed you.”

Her face softened just a bit, but it was a relief. There was another silence until the ghost of a smile was on her lips. “Your hair is longer.”

Eren couldn’t resist a small smile of his own. “Yours is shorter.”

She took a few steps to him until they were nearly touching and Eren felt his breath catch in his throat that she was so close to him again, he could just reach out his arms and hold her again. Mikasa beat him to it though. She carefully wrapped her arms around his waist, her head leaning in to rest on his chest.

Even after all this time she still fit against him perfectly. Eren put his arms around her and leaned his head against hers; he felt a small sigh against him.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again.” Her voice was soft but firm, fierce. He hurt her probably as much as he hurt himself, and he wasn’t sure if he or she could ever forgive him for that but here she was.

There would be a lot of things that would need to be healed because of the actions that happened when he walked out and he knew things wouldn’t be the same as they were when he left not to mention he wasn’t going to go silently into the role Levi wanted him to play here. Yet being here with her again made him wonder why the hell he ever let that door close behind him; Mikasa was always the best of him.

“I won’t .”

“Eren?”

He nearly sighed at just hearing his name on her lips again. “Yeah?”

“I missed you too.”


	21. Percy Jackson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did do another Percy Jackson crossover more recently that's way longer haha and much better with the godly parents. It's in For A Thousand More, Chapter 3, The Gods Vote How to Kill Us ^^

**_Anonymous:_ ** _Eremika + Percy Jackson universe?_

* * *

 

Eren dropped his bag in the empty cabin. It looked exactly the same as it had last summer; one large bed, various decorations, and a few framed pictures on the night stand. He picked up one of him and his mom from a few years ago. Eren looked younger but his mom looked the same; eyes still bright, smile still warm. The other two were of him, Mikasa, and Armin one that was taken their first summer at camp together and the other just last summer. It was incredible how much they all had grown from nine years old to sixteen years old; it seemed like just yesterday they had crossed the barrier into camp together.

“You are so lucky you get a cabin to yourself,” Armin’s voice said from the doorway causing Eren to turn around. “Hermes’ cabin can get so loud sometimes when the others start going on.”

“Always quiet here,” Eren sat down on the edge of his bed. “But that’s because my dad wasn’t supposed to be having kids to begin with.”

Armin chuckled walking in to sit down on a nearby chair. “That’s because, with all due respect, Zeus does what he wants.”

Well, Armin wasn’t wrong. Eren had only seen his dad once in all the years he had known. It was quite common; he was told often he was lucky to have even met his dad. “Where’s Mikasa? I haven’t seen her since the ceremony earlier.”

“Probably checking out the training ground to see if anything had changed.”

“I was just putting my things in my cabin,” Mikasa said, making her way to the bed to sit down with Eren. “And it hasn’t by the way.”

Armin let out a laugh, leaning back in his chair while Eren looked over to the girl sitting with him now. Her eyes were looking around the cabin though she had seen it hundreds of times. Eren always knew what made her a daughter of Athena and not Ares like most people thought she was. She was the strongest warrior he knew but Mikasa was driven by an inner strength and not one of rage. Eren just needed to meet Jean that first summer to know Mikasa wasn’t of Ares like he was; they were too different. Eren wasn’t surprised at all when Athena claimed her as a child.

Armin whistled to get Eren’s attention. “You’re staring,” he mouthed causing Eren to resist throwing a pillow at his old friend.

“Ready for the games tomorrow?” he asked, trying to ignore the heat that rose to his cheeks at getting caught.

“I’ll be cheering you two on from the side, but I think we know whose going to win,” Armin said, pointing at Mikasa. 

She kicked a foot out at the leg of his chair. “There are plenty of good competitors. Eren included. I don’t think any winner is set in stone.”

“I appreciate it, Mikasa, but you win almost every year.” It used to make Eren mad; never being able to catch up to her no matter what he did, feeling like he was the most useless son of Zeus ever but Eren had his strengths like Mikasa did.

“Oi, brats. It’s almost lights out, get outta here and into your own cabins.”

Armin jumped up out of his seat while Mikasa begrudgingly pushed herself up at Mr. A’s voice. He used to be taller than them, but Eren was pretty sure he’d be the one looking down on Mr. A real quick; it still didn’t make the counselor any less intimidating though.

“Goodnight, Eren, see you in the morning,” Armin waved as he made his way out, slipping past Mr. A to head down to his cabin.

“Goodnight,” Mikasa said, completely ignoring Mr. A as she walked the opposite way as Armin.

Mr. A kept moving down the path; he probably got tasked to make sure all the kids met curfew on the first night of camp. A job Eren knew Mr. A hated but Erwin still made him do it all the time. Eren pulled out his pajamas from his bag and went to get into bed. He always loved the first day of camp because he was back here, no school, no hiding, he could just be himself with his friends for the rest of the summer. He just wished his cabin was a little less lonely.

It didn’t take too long for that to change; at least it didn’t seem like too long. He sat up in bed, a yawn pulling at his lips, when he heard the familiar knock on the doorway. Nothing outside moved behind Mikasa, signaling it was later at night, everyone long in bed. Eren gestured for her to come in, another yawn on his mouth.

She walked in the cabin, closing the screen door behind her as Eren tossed back some of his blankets making room. It was like clockwork whether they were home with his mom or here at camp, Mikasa had never liked to sleep alone. Not since that night when they were nine.

She curled up against him, Eren throwing an arm over her after her put the blankets back over them.

It was how they had met, when Mikasa watched her father and the woman who she knew to be her mother get killed by a monster who came for Mikasa. Eren found her afterwards, still running from the creature. It was the night the both of them realized there something a little more to them then just being human.

“Was it nightmares?” Eren muttered, already feeling himself falling back asleep at her warm presence.

She nodded against his shoulder. “It’s better now.”

Eren felt a smile pulling at his lips. Yeah, it was better now.


	22. Pirates of the Caribbean

_**Anonymous:**  How about a pirates of the caribbean eremika au? _

* * *

 

Mikasa heard them coming. She saw the town on fire from outside her window, she saw the ship, she saw the townspeople fighting and she saw the pirates winning. She heard the footsteps up the stairs; loud and menacing, not soft a delicate like maids who worked in her house. They were coming for her, she knew it. Whether it was because she was the daughter of the governor or not she wasn’t sure but when she heard her door creak open from her hiding spot in the closet she knew she didn’t have much longer.

Two people stepped into her room. It was a man and a woman maybe, but regardless of gender it was clear what they were and that they were looking for her. Maybe if she stayed quiet they’d leave, then she could go find Eren, he’d know what to do. He always knew what to do. Mikasa tucked the gold medallion she was fiddling with down underneath the bodice of her dress so it didn’t draw their attention.

The closet door swung open and she nearly screamed in surprise.

“There you are,” the man grinned. “A pretty thing at that.”

The woman behind him hit him on the back of the head.

“What the hell was that for?” he grunted, glancing over to the woman.

“Oluo, don’t be creepy. Just grab her.”

“Like that’s any less creepy.”

The woman leaned forward, one hand reaching out towards Mikasa’s neck. She gasped and jumped back trying to get away but the woman was too quick. Her hands were already around Mikasa’s necklace, the gold coin dangling in air in front of her.

The woman grinned, her eyes meeting Mikasa’s. “That’s a good girl.”

It was the gold. All this time it was the gold they were still after. Mikasa wanted to cry. The pirates who killed her birth parents came all this way to finish the job. It couldn’t be like this. It couldn’t.

Oluo, or whatever the woman called him, let out a laugh before hoisting Mikasa up and over his shoulder. She tried to kick him in the face, to beat on his back so that he’d drop her; like she’d give up without a fight. She was about to scream when a cold blade was pressed against her neck.

“I’d stay still if I were you,” the woman said. She moved the blade away and Mikasa obeyed. Probably just to be safe, the woman tied up Mikasa’s hands and legs with some rope. Satisfied, Oluo started to carry Mikasa out, the red haired woman walking next to them.

Mikasa’s whole house was destroyed; she almost couldn’t bear to look. She didn’t see any bodies but she whispered a silent apology to her family. This was her fault. She should’ve thrown the token she stole from her parent’s murderers far away and never brought it to her life here with the family who only took care of her, who housed her, fed her, loved her like she was their own. But Eren gave it to her, how could she ever get rid of it?

Afraid the woman really would kill her, Mikasa stayed quiet through the whole walk to the port. They took her down the dark alleys, the back ways so that no one still fighting in the street would see her and come to her rescue. She wanted to cry out for Eren, for Armin but she had no idea where they were, or if they’d hear her before the woman cut her throat. Even when they put her in a boat and started rowing towards the large ship anchored in the bay, Mikasa still couldn’t bring herself to move. She was bound; there was no way she could swim even if she tipped the boat. She was trapped but she was alive.

She could fight as long as she was alive.

Oluo carried her up the rope ladder up the side of the ship and tossed her on the deck. Mikasa landed on her side, wincing at the pain that shot through her but it wasn’t long before she realized she wasn’t alone. She scrambled up to her knees to see the crew of the ship watching her carefully.

“Well, well, lookey here.” Another voice spoke this time.

Before Mikasa could even look to see who was talking a woman squatted down in front of her.

“We’ve been looking for that, missy. How’d you come to get it?” The brown haired woman was grinning, one hand lifting up her glasses to get a better look at Mikasa and the other reaching for the gold coin.

“It’s mine. It’s always been mine,” she said firmly, jerking away from the woman’s touch.

“Hanji, that’s no way to treat our guest.” It was a man this time.

The woman called Hanji stood up quickly. “I was just asking, Cap’n.”

The sound of thick boots against the wooden deck sounded in Mikasa’s ears. She looked up to see a tall figure standing in front of her. He was smiling but his defined face and thick eyebrows made him look very intense.

“The name is Captain Smith,” he said, his hands behind her back as he looked down at Mikasa. “My first mate was accurate in her statement. We have been looking for that for a very long time. What’s your name, child?”

Mikasa felt her jaw clench. “I’m seventeen years old. I’m not a child.”

There were some snickers from the crew watching.

“My apologies,” Captain Smith said. “What’s your name?”

“Mikasa.”

“Do you have a last name?”

She hesitated. She couldn’t give them her real last name. What if they remembered her parents? What if she got Eren into this whole mess too when all he did was safe her life all those years ago? Well, maybe he still could help her now. “Jaeger. Mikasa Jaeger.”

The ship went silent and Mikasa wondered if she said the wrong thing.

“Well, Miss Jaeger.” Captain Smith gestured for Hanji to help Mikasa to her feet. “You’re a guest with us for a little bit. Don’t worry no harm will come to you.”

“I want to go home,” she said as Hanji cut the binding on Mikasa’s legs.

Captain Smith didn’t acknowledge her that time. He just turned to face the crew and started barking commands to get the ship ready to sail.

“Petra, you take her to your room and keep an eye on her,” Hanji said.

The woman who found her in the closet grabbed a hold of Mikasa’s arm. “C’mon now, girl. I won’t hurt you provided you cooperate.”

Mikasa let herself be let away but not without one last look at her home. How was she ever gonna find her way home this time?

* * *

 

Eren looked everywhere. He practically turned the whole mess of his town over twice looking for any sign of Mikasa but he couldn’t find her. Not a single trail and he knew what that meant. Those bastards took her. They took her and he had to get her back. There was no way he was gonna let them hurt her.

“They have her.” Eren slammed the door to the meeting house open.

“I know,” the Governor sighed, his fingers on his temples. “The closet doors she was told to hide in were opened wide.”

“And you’re just gonna let them take her and do God knows what? Is that what’s going on here?”

“Jaeger, will you calm down. We’re doing all we can.” Jean looked up from the map on the table. Goddamn  _Commander_ Jean Kirstein. “I want her back as much as you do.”

That’s not true, Eren wanted to say. That just because you and your Commander of the Navy title were betrothed to her it didn’t mean shit. No one wanted her back as bad as Eren did. “Then why aren’t you sending your fleets out to get her!”

“Because the town is in shambles! What do you want from me?”

Eren started to dive for Jean, that arrogant prick, but the Governor caught Eren before he could.

“Eren.” The Governor pushed him back towards the door. “I understand how you feel, trust me, but we have to do what’s best for everyone. As soon as we can we will send our fastest ship after her. You have my word.”

“It’s not good enough,” Eren spat and turned away from the hall. He kicked some of the rubble on the street. He knew they had a lot to do, yeah, he saw this place, he understood but Mikasa should be a priority. Why didn’t they understand? He should’ve been there. He should’ve never left her.

Even when he tried to go for her it was hopeless; he got caught fighting pirates around every corner. By the time he made it to her room she was already long gone. Once he knew his mom and Armin were okay he searched everywhere for her even though he knew it was too late. But if they thought he was gonna sit around and wait for someone to send a ship for her….no, he was going after her himself if it was the last thing he did. No one was ever gonna hurt her again.

But the only way he could think to catch pirates was by knowing how pirates think, how they operate. It wasn’t exactly something he liked, but he had no other choice. Eren ran through the town till he slipped in the half collapsed jail. No one was there to watch the prisoners, if there was even any left. Eren still had to try. Cell after call was empty, the back ripped out by a cannonball it looked like. He was about to give up when he saw a foot sticking out in the last cell.

Laid out on the floor with his hat over his face was the pirate that got arrested on the docks just the day before.

“Friends didn’t come back for you?” Eren asked, stepping in front of the gate.

“I have better taste in friends than that, kid,” he said, not moving an inch.

“I need your help.”

“Too bad.”

Eren grit his teeth. “I need to go after those pirates who were here.”

“Fancy yourself a pirate yourself?”

He grabbed onto the cell bars. “I will  _never_  be a pirate. They took someone.”

The man lifted his hat to glance over. “Took your little girlfriend did they? Shame, she’s a pretty thing.”

“I can get you out of here if you help me.”

“Who says I need your help.”

Eren hit the bars in frustration. “Fine, just stay here and rot. See if I care.” What a mistake this was. He could do it on his own.

The man sat up just as Eren turned to leave. “Wait, kid. What’s your name?”

“Eren Jaeger.”

The pirate watched him for a moment. “Okay, I’ll help. Get me the hell outta this disgusting cell.”

Eren arched an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

“I said yes, what more do you want from me.” He pushed himself up to his feet as Eren grabbed the keys off the wall.

“Do I get to know your name?” He unlocked the gate and swung it open.

The man stepped out while dusting his hat off and placed it back on his head. “Levi.”

“Just Levi?”

“I’m not working with you to become your best friend so hurry it up if you want to save your girl.”

This was probably the strangest thing Eren ever did but he followed the pirate out of the jail. What choice did Eren have? He had to get Mikasa back.


	23. Pirates of the Caribbean II

_**Anonymous:**  Oh man I really liked your pirates of the caribbean au and now I want more. I hope that when you can, you can continue it._

* * *

 

“Are you sure this is the place?” Eren asked from the deck of the incredibly commandeered ship. Jean was probably gonna murder him whenever they got back home. The island in front of the ship didn’t really look like much nor where there any signs of the ship that raided his home. It just looked like an empty island.

“Of course I’m sure,” Levi said.

“But how?” Eren arched an eyebrow. It was hard to trust Levi considering he was a pirate to begin with but then every time Eren tried to ask why was it that Levi only agreed to help once he heard Eren’s full name Levi refused to give him a straight answer. Eren went along with it because he needed to save Mikasa, but there was something else going on here.  

“Because I’ve been here before.” Levi kicked his foot up into the rowboat. “Are you coming or not, kid?”

Eren hesitated but he followed after Levi, two of the crew members they picked up lowering the smaller boat until it was floating in the water. Levi worked the riggings so the boat wasn’t attached by ropes anymore and tossed Eren the oars. That wasn’t too surprising either. He started to row the boat towards the island bank, Levi kicking his feet up and watching out over the water.

“Are you gonna tell me before we actually go in there why you wanted me to come all the way out here with you? I’m not stupid, I know you didn’t come out here just to help Mikasa.”

Levi watched Eren for a moment like he was deciding to tell him the truth or lie again.

“It was my name that got you to help me, and I want to know why before I walk head first into the lion’s den.”

“Need I remind you walking head first into the lion’s den was your idea first?”

Eren dropped the oars in his lap, stilling the boat against the small waves of the ocean. He wasn’t going anywhere without even some kinda of answer. He couldn’t help Mikasa if he didn’t even know what was going on.

Levi snorted. “Stubborn as hell you are. Just like your dad.”

Eren nearly dropped the oars in the water this time. “How the hell do you know my dad?”

“I didn’t recognize you at first, you don’t look much like Grisha Jaeger. I assume it’s your mom you take after in that regard but the fire in your eyes, that’s your dad, kid.”

“How the hell do you know my dad?”

“Haven’t you worked it out by now?” Levi said, an amused smile pulling at his lips. “What did your mom always tell you he did?”

Eren’s heart was pounding in his chest. “He was a doctor and he sailed around to other islands to help people, that’s why he was always away. He died in a shipwreck trying to come home.”

“Well, at least she didn’t fully lie to you. He was a doctor but the only sailing he did was on the very ship that took your girl. Your dad was a pirate, and a good one at that.”

Eren was on his feet before he even knew what he was doing. “You’re lying,” he hissed, hands clenched at his side.

“Why would I lie to you now? You asked for the truth I gave it to you. Now sit your ass down and start rowing, toppling us into the ocean will help no one.”

Eren knew he was right. They had to keep moving to save Mikasa. His heart was still racing as he sat down picking up the oars in silence. Levi didn’t say anything else and Eren didn’t ask him to. It couldn’t be true; his dad was just a doctor who helped out other islands, that’s why he was away all the time. Yet, there was something that made sense about Levi’s words. Eren always wondered why it took so long for his dad to come home, why sometimes he’d come back with injuries of his own, why his parents talked in hushed tones at night.

He shook his head. He couldn’t think about now. They had to get Mikasa back.

Once the boat was on shore, Levi silently led Eren through the rocks and into a dark, damp cave. A part of Eren wondered if Levi brought Eren all the way out here to kill him for something his dad did or some pirate code thing. Eren stayed on his guard until he heard voices, quite a lot of voices. Levi gestured to stay low as he poked his head up from behind one of the large rocks, Eren following suit.

There were pirates everywhere, probably a full crew of them and Eren easily recognized a few of them. They were the ones who raided his home. Levi actually led him to the right place. They all looked antsy like they were waiting for something and it only took Eren a moment to realize what. They were all standing in front of a chest full of gold coins, ones just like the one he gave to Mikasa so long ago; a token to remember to always keep fighting even when everything seemed hopeless.

“We’re finally here, boys,” a man stepped out from behind another rock, standing behind the chest of coins. He was a tall man with a broad chest and even broad shoulders, his blonde hair sticking perfectly to his head. If not for his attire Eren would say he belonged in the navy not a pirate crew.

“The last coin.” The man dropped it down in the chest, it clanging against the others before the whole room went up in cheers. “But,” he said and everyone instantly when quiet; it was clear he was the captain of this crew. “There’s still one more thing needed to lift the curse.”

Eren’s hands tightened on the rock he was behind. Mikasa was nowhere in sight. What if they were too late? She better be okay for their sake or Eren was never gonna let a single one of them out of this wretched place.

The captain gestured off to the side of the chest and a woman with brown hair dragged someone up next to the captain. Someone with black hair and a blank but calm expression in her eyes.

Eren nearly cried out in relief. She was okay, Mikasa was okay. She was still wearing the last clothes he saw her in and was a little wet and dirty but she was okay. They had to get in there before this man did hurt her though. What if they were using her as some sacrifice or something? They had to move.  Levi’s hand clamped down on Eren’s shoulder before he could get any closer though.

He turned to glare over but Levi was just shaking his head. “Wait,” he whispered.

Eren didn’t want to listen but he did. Maybe Levi knew something Eren didn’t. It killed him, but he waited and watched with his heart practically in his throat.  

“Grisha Jaeger doomed us to this fate,” the captain said and Eren’s heart nearly stopped. They couldn’t be lying; they didn’t even know Eren was here. “But now we can reverse it. We have all the gold coins together, and all that’s left is the blood of Grisha Jaeger himself. While we can’t have that, we have the next best thing.” The man gestured for Mikasa’s hand. “The blood of his child.”

The crew cheered again.

Levi grunted as Eren watched on wide eyed. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird to feel  _that_ strongly for your sister, kid?”

“She’s not my sister,” Eren said. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m an only child and Mikasa’s parents were killed by pirates when she was a kid that was the first time I ever met her.”

The captain held Mikasa’s hand over the chest of gold and for a horrible moment Eren though the man was gonna cut off her hand but he just cut the palm of her hand, blood dripping down onto the coins. Mikasa didn’t even blink; she just stood completely still, eyes never leaving the man’s face.

It was quiet for a moment.

“How do we know if it worked?” one of the crew asked from the crowd.

The captain looked contemplative for a moment before tossing the knife directly at the man’s chest. The force was so strong it knocked him over. It seemed like everyone in the room was watching, and the angry cries that shouted up when the man stood back up completely unharmed from the knife deep in his chest was deafening.

The captain’s eyes flashed as he turned on Mikasa, grabbing her shoulders with his hands. “You lied to me, girl,” he said over the rest of the shouting. “You know the family name, that was no coincidence. Tell me where the child of Grisha Jaeger is.”

Mikasa’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll never find him.”

“I beg to differ,” Levi suddenly said, standing up from his stop and casually walking over to where the captain and Mikasa were standing.

The room went silent once more.

The captain was the first person to react and it was with a deep laugh. “Well, well, look who it is.” He tossed Mikasa off the back of the rock they were standing on, her body tumbling but Eren was there to catch her before she hit the ground.

The force knocked him down but he didn’t care, not when she was looking up at him with wide eyes. “Eren?” she whispered, almost like she didn’t believe it was him.

“Good to see you as always, Erwin, oh, my apologies is it Captain Smith now?” Levi said from somewhere in front of them.

“Of course it’s me,” Eren said, reaching a hand out to her face. He finally felt whole again; she was okay, he’d get her out of here. They’d be safe. “You think I’d let them hurt you?”

Mikasa looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but she settled for wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him so tightly she knocked him over again.

“Levi!” the brunette girl exclaimed happily. “You’re alive! How’re ya doing?”

Someone must’ve given her a glare because she quickly shut up.

“Oh you know, the usual after one gets forcibly kicked off the ship they once commanded by people who were once friends.”

“Always so bitter, Ackerman,” Captain Smith said.

“We should leave,” Mikasa said helping Eren up to his feet. “I don’t know why but they want you. I’m sorry, I was so scared I used your last name when they asked me.”

“It’s okay,” Eren said, relieved she did use his name. He didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if she was expendable to the pirates. “It probably saved your life. We have to wait for Levi though, he’s the one who got me here. I can’t just leave him.”

“Regardless of how I feel,” Levi said, his tone unchanging. “I understand the little miss gave you a false name did she?”

“Obviously.” The pirate was still trying to pull the knife out of his chest.

“I happen to know where the actual child of Grisha Jaeger is,” Levi said walking closer to where Captain Smith was standing.

Eren froze. Was Levi selling him out already?

“You were close,” Levi continued. “The right town but the wrong person.”

“What do you want for him?” Captain Smith said without hesitation.

“Simple, I want my ship back and I’ll lead you right to him.”

Eren didn’t actually hear if Captain Smith took the offer or if Levi was just playing the other pirates. Eren grabbed Mikasa’s good hand and pulled her out the way he had come in. He just got her back, Eren wasn’t gonna risk it. He didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until they were in the rowboat heading back across the ocean.

“How are we gonna get out of here?” Mikasa said, sitting in the seat across from him.

Eren had to resist a grin as he nodded over to the ship waiting for them in the distance.

“Eren, you didn’t,” she gasped but she looked like she was trying not to smile herself.

“It was the only way. They couldn’t get anything out to help you right away and I wasn’t gonna have it.”

Mikasa did smile that time. “Jean is gonna kill you.”

Eren swallowed some bile that rose up in his throat when she said his name. “It’ll be worth it.”

“Eren?”

“Yeah, is everything okay?” He glanced behind him to see how much further they had to go.

“Thank you. You risked everything for me. How can I ever thank you enough?”

“No need to,” he said, his breath hitching in his throat when his eyes met hers. “I’d do it every time.”

She was quiet, her eyes watching over the ocean as Eren brought them up to the side of the ship. He hooked the riggings back up and the boat started to get pulled back up to the deck.

“Hey, you got your girl,” Shadis grunted from his spot at the wheel as Eren helped Mikasa over onto the deck.

“Yeah, and we’re probably gonna wanna leave before they realize we’re out here.”

“Okay,” Shadis said simply before shouting orders off to the crew to start sailing.

It was what Eren wanted but he was a little confused. “You’re okay to leave just like that? What about Levi?”

Shadis shrugged. “He’s not here, you are. He knows that’s how it goes. Why? You wanna go save him too, boy?”

A part of Eren felt bad just leaving Levi there in the grasps of what looked like old crew mates now enemies after everything Levi did to help. At the same time though it very well looked like Levi was gonna sell Eren out to the highest bidder. Betrayal is what seemed to start this whole mess, from whatever his father did in a life Eren knew nothing about. It was a life he wanted to know nothing about.

“No, keep going,” Eren said. His first priority was to get Mikasa to safety.

Shadis spun the wheel as the ship started to sail away from the island. Eren watched it start to disappear in the distance, the wind blowing his hair around his head. He didn’t feel relief though. Eren had a sinking feeling this was nowhere near over yet.

“C’mon,” Eren said tugging on Mikasa’s hand. “I can clean your cut for you.”

Mikasa looked at him, a worried expression in her eyes like she could sense his turmoil. Which she probably could, Mikasa knew him better than anyone. She didn’t say anything though; she just followed him down into the cabins.

They were safe now, but with pirates sure to be on their tail Eren had no idea how long that safety would last.


	24. The Princess Diaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my all-time favorite book series! It’s been a long time since I read the books so I had to go off the movie a bit more (which is still fabulous). Also the family relations are a bit messy here just because I needed everything to fall in place like the series does, so please forgive me for not being canon there. Eren as Michael is the cutest thing in the world and I needed it in my life.

_**Anonymous:**  *whispers* hey, if you're ever feeling it, you should totally think about doing a princess diaries au for eremika_

* * *

 

Mikasa was so close to leaving her home unnoticed. Granted, it wasn’t that big of an apartment but she knew if she left while her mom was still in the shower Mikasa could easily make any excuse she wanted.

“Mikasa!”

She froze in the doorway; hand still on the handle of the now open door and one foot out the apartment. So much for her plan. “Yeah, Mom?” Mikasa just hoped she wasn’t about to say the words Mikasa thought she was.

“Don’t forget you have to meet your uncle after school. Head right over to the hotel he’s staying in. Do you have the address?”

No, she wanted to say, because I was hoping you’d forget and I wouldn’t have to go. “Yes, Mom.” Mikasa trudged back to the counter and grabbed the paper the address was scribbled on in her mother’s handwriting.

“Okay, good,” her voice as a little muffled by her bedroom door. “And, Mikasa, please play nice.”

She rolled her eyes. “Kay, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Mikasa hurried out the door before her mom decided there was more she wanted to say. Mikasa shut it behind her and leaned back against it, her head hitting the wood with a groan. Why, why, why. Why did her uncle she hadn’t seen in like six years (and she had only ever seen him once before that when her dad was still alive) decided he wanted to pay her a visit now of all times?

She pushed herself off the door and started to walk down the hall to the elevators. She slipped in just as one was closing and surprisingly it was empty. That was always a pleasant start to the day; generally she got stuck with some older woman who wanted to know her life story before they hit the first floor. Mikasa stepped out of the elevator and onto the main floor of her apartment building.

“Have a good day at school, Mikasa,” Hannes, the doorman she had known for about as long as she could remember, waved to her.

Mikasa must’ve made a disgusted face because he laughed. “You have a good day too, Hannes,” she waved back and slipped out into the cool fall air. At least it was a nice day out, not too cold yet.

She sighed and straightened out her uniform skirt before heading down the sidewalk to start the familiar path to school. The thought made her groan. Not only did she have to get through a whole day of school but then she had to go see some estranged family member on the rich side of town for that matter. Maybe they’d kick her out for looking so plain and bland.

Mikasa never had any interest in her father’s family even before he passed. They basically disowned him when he moved to America and he married her mom. Why would Mikasa ever want to know people like that? She loved her dad; he was a kind and gentle man, always smiling. Anyone who didn’t want to be a part of his life obviously wasn’t worth knowing. They didn’t even reach out to Mikasa at her father’s funeral. They were family and she was a nine year old who lost her dad. Yeah, super supportive. Mikasa was fine never knowing them.

From what she remembered of her father’s younger brother he wasn’t much of a warm person. He had a hard face and she never remembered seeing him even remotely smile. Yeah, this was gonna be a super fun meeting they had today. Why did her mom have to remember? It’s not like she liked that side of the family any more than Mikasa did. But she told Mikasa to be nice, that he reached out because he wanted to talk to her.

What her uncle could possibly want to talk to her about was beyond her.

Mikasa stopped a white gate, leading up to the ever familiar townhouse. She reached over to unlatch it, a dog barking in the background. She went to slip in the yard but she didn’t even have to, she could already hear voices coming out.

“Really, was that really necessary, Eren?”

“Oh, give it a rest, Sash. It was sitting on your plate for the entirety of breakfast. You were never gonna eat it.”

“It was my piece of sausage to do as I please, not for you to grab and shove in your fat mouth.”

Mikasa tried not to laugh but it was nearly impossible when she saw Sasha’s irritated face as she walked out the side door, nearly slamming the door on her older brother (probably on purpose) who was still wiping his mouth and signature grin on his lips.

“Mikasa!” Sasha exclaimed her face brightening up as she ran over to encase her best friend in a bear hug like she hadn’t seen Mikasa in ten years. “Thank God, you’re here. Please give me a break from him.”

“So dramatic,” Eren said attempting to slip through the gate after Sasha but she closed it on him.

They had always been like that; always bickering and fighting over just about everything but Mikasa supposed that’s what happened when you had a sibling only a year apart from you. Not that Mikasa would really know being an only child herself, but she knew Sasha and Eren since they were in elementary school. They were always this way.

Sasha draped her arm around Mikasa’s shoulders, walking a bit quicker down the sidewalk as Sasha hoisted her slipping backpack back on her shoulder. “So do you still have to do this thing with your uncle? Please say no so you can come over after school.”

Mikasa groaned and hung her head.

“Really? You couldn’t get outta it?”

“No, my mom remembered to remind me this morning so I couldn’t claim to forget and blow him off.”

“Hey, Mikasa,” Eren said as he jogged up to her other side, finally catching up from the locked gate and Sasha practically running to get away from him.

“Hi,” Mikasa smiled back at him. “How was the sausage?”

“Delicious of course.”

Sasha groaned. She could act all she wanted but Mikasa knew Sasha did love her brother; she probably left that piece for him to grab intentionally. “Mikasa, don’t encourage him.”

Eren ignored his sister. “Hey, Armin’s coming over after school today. Did you want to come by and hang out with us?”

Before Mikasa could even answer Sasha let out a disgusted noise. “If she can’t hang out with me why would she want to hang out with you?”

Mikasa swore she saw a light tint of red to his cheeks as he reached up to scratch the back of his head.

“She’s my friend too, dummy.”

“I’m sorry, Eren,” Mikasa said looking back over to him. “I have to go meet my stupid uncle after school.”

“Ah, that’s right, I forgot. I’m sorry.”

More kids in uniforms were filtering in on the sidewalk in front of them as the tall fences of the schoolyard started to pop up behind small trees and shrubs.

“It’s okay. Maybe tomorr-” Before she could actually finish her sentence though Sasha started dragging her through the school gates.

“Okay, Eren, nice walk, we’ll see you later!”

Mikasa turned to wave at him as he started to walk to a different part of the school. He was still smiling at her and waved back. “Sasha,” she said turning back to her friend. “Why do you do that? I like Eren.”

Sasha let go of her as they stepped into the tile floors of the school building. “And you know I don’t really care if you’re friends with him but you have to hang out with me too.” She grinned as she nudged Mikasa in the shoulder. “Besides he has some junior lab first thing in the morning so he has to go to the science wing which in the opposite direction.”

Before Mikasa could say another word the first bell rang, signally both that school had started and that she was already late considering she hadn’t even gotten to her locker yet. The day barely begun and she couldn’t wait for it to be over forever.

School was school. Mikasa did her best to try not to fall asleep and to do everything not to get noticed by anyone, not that it was that hard of a task to start with but she liked it that way. She had her few friends and she was happy with that. She didn’t need anyone else, especially the type of people who would tell her she needed to wear makeup, that she needed to do her hair instead of letting it lay limp, that her shoes were frumpy, that her uniform wasn’t pressed whatever that even meant. Oh wait, they did tell her that just against her will and not in a friendly way at all.

Mikasa tried not to pay them any mind when that social group laughed at her before classes started, after all if she ignored them maybe they’d go back to ignoring her like they always had before. She didn’t need any of that fancy stuff anyway. Besides, she tried eyeliner once and poked herself in the eye. She decided she was fine the way she was. Her only real female friend was Sasha, and she spent her free time at the animal shelter or hunting in the country with her grandpa; makeup and fancy clothes weren’t on her mind either. Mikasa’s two best guy friends were Eren and Armin, and they never once seemed to care she didn’t look like a supermodel.  Hell, Eren even saw her when she had that massive growth of a zit on her cheek. He stole some of his mom’s concealer to try and help her cover it up when he saw she was embarrassed.

Lunch seemed to take ten years to get there after all the boring classes she had but once the bell rang she grabbed her stuff and headed right to the room where she could actually sit next to Sasha. Sure enough she was already there digging into an elaborate lunch Carla packed. Mikasa sat down on the bench across from Sasha, pulling out a brown bag to eat whatever Mikasa’s own mom made for her the night before.

“So,” Sasha started between bites. “What do you know about this uncle of yours?”

Mikasa nearly dropped her head into her sandwich.

Sasha raised her hands in defense. “I know you don’t wanna go so I thought talking about it would help make you feel better.”

Mikasa shrugged. She really doubted it. “He’s my dad’s younger and only brother. Their parents died so he’s like the head of the family or whatever.”

“Head of the family? What are they still in the middle ages?” Sasha arched an eyebrow.

“Well, they all live in a different country so maybe. From what I know they’re pretty rich, I mean he’s staying in the upper end.”

Sasha let out a low whistle. “And they can’t help their sweet little Mikasa get a car?”

“I’m pretty sure all of them hate me cause they hated my mom. Him especially. From what I remember he practically has a scowl on his lips at all times and he has these eyebrows that are like super villain eyebrows or something. ”

“Kinda sounds like a soap opera,” Eren said, taking a seat next to Mikasa and placing his lunch on the table.

“You again?” Sasha rolled her eyes. “Why aren’t with Armin?”

Eren wrinkled his nose. “He’s eating with Jean today.”

Mikasa turned her head and sure enough Armin was sitting at the table surrounded by jocks. He seemed fine but she knew Eren would keep an eye out just to make sure they were treating him okay. Armin helped those guys with some project or something and they liked him well enough for it. As long as they didn’t bully him, Mikasa didn’t really care either.

Sasha went back to eating down her food, deciding not to fight Eren any longer apparently.

“You want me to come with you?” Eren asked looking up at Mikasa. “Make sure he treats you right?”

Sasha made that disgusted noise again and he kicked at her under the table. “What’re you gonna do spout anatomy and bone names at him?”

“Thank you, but it’s okay. I guess I have to face my family eventually,” Mikasa said. “Maybe it’ll be okay.”

But once school was over, and she waved bye to Eren and Sasha from outside the school to walk to the hotel her uncle was staying in, Mikasa didn’t think anything would be okay. Not only did she look ridiculously out of place on this side of town but the hotel was the largest, and most elite she had ever seen. She swallowed hard and stepped onto the property.

The man at the door eyed her funny as he opened the door for her but Mikasa ignored him. She was too busy staring at the elaborate lobby she was now standing in.

“Miss? Can I help you?”

Mikasa looked down to see the man at the front desk also eyeing her. See, she very well knew she didn’t look like she belonged here. “Uh, yeah. I’m here to see my uncle.”

“His name?” the man asked as Mikasa grabbed onto the straps of her backpack slowly walking up to the desk.

“Um…Levi Ackerman?”

The man looked up in surprise for a moment before looking back to his computer screen. “Your name.”

“Mika-”

“Mikasa Ackerman?”

Mikasa turned around at the sound of a woman asking her name.

“Hi, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” There was a woman walking up to her, dressed in a simple spring dress, a cardigan over her arms and shoulders. “I’m Petra, I work with your uncle.” With a warm smile, she extended a hand to Mikasa.

She loosely shook the woman’s hand. Well, she looked a lot nicer than her uncle ever did. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you as well. C’mon, he’s waiting for you in the gardens.” She started to walk towards some side doors Mikasa didn’t see before.

She had to walk quickly to keep up. Petra was small but quick. “This place has gardens?”

Petra chuckled, pushing open the doors. “It does.”

It damn well sure did. She didn’t even know those kinda flowers could grow in the city. “Are you sure this is a hotel?”

“It kinda is,” Petra said, giving Mikasa a smile as Petra led the way down the path.

It only took a few moments for her to see a table set up in a clearing, fancy plates and cups on it and shading over it to keep the sun out. Mikasa saw the back of her uncle’s head where he was sitting at the table; from what she could tell he looked about the same.

“Levi,” Petra said when they got closer. “Your niece is here.”

Levi turned to look at Petra, giving Mikasa a glance. “Thank you, I can handle it from here.”

Petra nodded and left the way she came.

Mikasa suddenly felt incredibly lost.

“Please, sit down,” Levi said gesturing to the other chair set up.

She did so without even taking off her backpack. Yeah, he still had that permanent grumpy look on his face.

“Would you like some tea?”

She really didn’t, but her mom’s words rang in her ears. “Yes, please.”

Levi reached over to the tea pot pouring whatever tea was in there into a cup for her and passing it over.

Mikasa took it in her hands and blew at it even though it felt warm enough to drink.

He cleared his throat causing her to look up again. “I’m not one to beat around the bush, Mikasa. I did ask to speak to you for a reason. Has your mother told you anything about your father’s family?”

Oh yeah, but nothing Mikasa could repeat here. “Not really, just that Dad was from a different country and that’s where his family stayed.” She sipped at her tea and it surprised her; the taste was kinda familiar.

“It’s the truth in the least,” Levi said, leaning back in his chair. “Your father was the first born, meaning his wife was always bound to be head of the family, the Ackerman’s being a matriarchic family. Unfortunately, your father didn’t have a taste for the royal life and your mother most certainly did not. So he left to be with her.”

Mikasa stared at him. Her father? Head of the family? What was Levi going on about? She tried to sip at her tea to make it look like she didn’t think her uncle was completely crazy.

“That would make me next in line but my wife can’t bear children leaving us heirless. That leaves you. You’ll be turning sixteen next year correct?”

Mikasa didn’t even know he was married. “Ah, yeah, next year.”

“That’s a very large ordeal in our country, especially for our family. We don’t have a lot of time in that case but we’ll have to make do with what we can to get you prepared.”

She was completely lost. “I’m sorry, prepared for what?” She sipped at the tea once more, trying to calm her spinning head.

Levi leaned forward, his elbows on the table and hands under his chin. “Your coming out. Your father was the first born prince of the royal family. You’re our only princess, Mikasa Ackerman.”

She promptly spit her tea out all over the table.


	25. The Purge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, this one does contain Violent Situations. 
> 
> I know nothing about The Purge. I didn’t even know it was a thing until I saw a trailer for the third one haha But! I really like the pretense so I decided to give it a try (and I got this idea in my head and I had to do it). I’m sorry if not all the details are correct because I didn’t even research it I just went with it lmao

_**Anonymous:**  I'd love to read an SnK/Purge crossover! I trust you to make it angsty. ;) Good luck, if you do it!_

* * *

It was quiet outside Eren’s house and that’s what was probably the most unnerving part of this whole night. He stared up at the dark ceiling over his bed. He technically wasn’t allowed to do anything but sit there. His windows were locked, curtains pulled tight so no light could even so much as flicker outside. This meant no TV, no games, no phone, no anything. Eren didn’t even really get the point. If someone wanted to get in the house they’d just break in regardless if they thought someone wasn’t home. He supposed it wasn’t the robbers his parents had on their minds but the people who wanted to do far worse.

Eren reached up to rub his hands of his face. He understood the pretense better now than when he was a child but even still living through the night of chaos every year and walking up to so much death and destruction was…surreal to say the least. He never actually was directly involved; he never even left his house on this night in his seventeen years. He also knew that every year his dad sat downstairs, glass of whiskey in one hand and the other in reach of a shot gun. Eren heard gun shots only a few times coming from downstairs in his life and when the morning came it was never discussed. He tried not to question it too much because him and his parents were still alive.

He groaned and rolled over on his bed. He should just try and sleep but how could he when any noise could be someone in the house. Eren pushed himself up so he could let his bare feet hit the ground before walking over to the window. When he was younger he’d sleep in his parent’s bed with his mom for comfort and so he didn’t go throwing the curtains open. No one would know now though.

As carefully as he could, he poked an eye out of the curtain. He couldn’t see much but his front yard, and a bit of the Ackerman’s house across the street. Eren couldn’t see anyone outside but he lived in the suburbs, there were no doubt some fucked up people who wanted to take advantage of the one night of freedom.

Eren walked back to his bed, flopping back down on his bed before reaching for his phone off the nightstand. Yeah his mom said no phones but the backlight was on the lowest setting and completely silent. He opened up his recent conversations and picked the name at the top.

_So any news if your Uncle Kenny has finally come out as the serial killer we always thought he was?_

Eren could almost see the way Mikasa roll her eyes when she read it. He wondered if she was even awake. His phone lit up lightly in his lap and he guessed that was his answer.

_Not yet but my parents turned off all of our phones for the night_

He snorted as he started to type.  _Breaking the rules, Mik? I’m so proud_

_Aren’t you calling the kettle black just a little bit?_

He knew Mikasa since they were kids. He could see the glint in her eyes the slight tease in her voice even through just words on a screen.

_What my mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her_

Eren tossed his phone down on the bed. He was tempted to look outside again but it seemed just as quiet as before. He waited till words popped on his screen to look back down.

_It’s pretty quiet though_

_Good as long as they don’t keep me up I don’t care_

A noise outside had Eren’s head snapping up as he hit sent. Even though he knew he was safe his heart was in his throat. He knew what could be out there.

_You hear that?_  He sent to Mikasa but this time he kept his phone in his hand.

_No, there’s nothing over here. At least that I heard_

He breathed a sigh of relief. He’d rather it be on his end than hers. Granted she was safe with her father who was a cop guarding their door but at the same time there were more than a few people who targeted cops and their families come purge night. It wouldn’t be the first time Eren heard gunshots coming from the Ackerman’s home this night. It scared the shit outta him when he was younger but he had walkie talkies then and phones now to make sure everything was okay. He didn’t know what he’d do if they weren’t.

_Are you okay?_ Came another message from Mikasa.

_Yeah, dunno what it was but I’ll go make sure my dad heard it_

Eren technically was supposed to stay in his room but he was just trying to help after all, his parents couldn’t get too mad.

_Be careful, Eren_

He held his phone in his hand making sure he could see it if it lit up again as he stepped out into the hallway. Everything was dark but he was careful to move quietly so he didn’t alarm his mom in her room. He walked down the steps but stopped at the last one. His dad was right around the corner and the last thing Eren wanted to do was startle the man with the gun. His dad was calm and not easy to jump but Eren would rather play it safe.

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Any reason you’re standing there and not in your room like you should be?” Grisha said back but he really didn’t sound too surprised.

Eren stepped onto the first floor of his house, turning into the doorway that led to the living room. His dad was sitting right where Eren left him a few hours before, in the armchair facing the front door. It was pretty dark in the room, but Eren’s eyes were adjusting well enough to be able to see the outlines of the room. “I just wanted to make sure you heard that noise just now?”

Grisha arched an eyebrow and a smile pulled at his lips. “What makes you think I didn’t?”

Eren opened his mouth to tell Grisha but quickly realized that would be Eren would have to out himself and his phone usage. “No reason.”

“Couldn’t be because you heard it but Mikasa didn’t so you decided to come down and make sure everything was okay?”

Eren was glad it was dark so he didn’t have to face his dad’s teasing when Eren’s face heated up. “Did you hear it?”

“I did, but it seemed like it was heading away from us so I didn’t worry quite yet and neither should you.”

Eren supposed his dad was right. No reason to freak out over everything.

“Why don’t you go back up to your room and I won’t tell your mother you’ve been texting Mikasa this whole time,” Grisha said.

Eren was about to respond that it wasn’t the whole time but he figured it wasn’t worth that conversation. “Night, Dad.”

“Goodnight, Eren.”

He walked back up to the stairs but he heard the noise again, but like laughter this time. It wasn’t close to the door he didn’t think but people were out on the street.

_I heard that one_

Eren listened to the footsteps, the voices, the shuffling in the otherwise quiet night. Grisha shifted in his chair. Eren brought his phone up so he could see the keypad.

_I wouldn’t worry about –_

A loud crash cut through the air, wood cracked and splintered, taunting voices hollered. Eren could only stare at his door expecting it to come crumbling down but the sickening realization soon too came.

It wasn’t his door.

A gunshot sounded, almost making Eren drop his phone. His father was shouting his name but Eren only saw the words on the screen.

_They’re in my house_

Grisha had his gun in his hand as he grabbed Eren’s shoulder. “Get upstairs.”

_Mom went downstairs_

More gunshots echoed.

“Eren, go now!”

_She told me to hide in my closet_

The gunshots stopped and just like that it was quiet again but Eren knew better. His stomach was turning, his heart pounding in his throat as he looked down when his phone lit up again.

_Eren, I’m afraid_

Grisha was at the front window, his mom’s footsteps rushing to the top of the stairs. Eren turned and swung open the door, stepping out into his front yard. Carla was shouting at him, Grisha probably already running out of the house but Eren really didn’t care. He wasn’t leaving Mikasa to die. No fucking way in hell.

He heard more footsteps. Someone was singing off in the distance. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw fire, torches, more death and destruction. Eren ran until he reached the broken front door of the Ackerman house; he knew his parents wouldn’t risk running out and drawing more attention to him. He stepped inside the dark room but the sight almost made him double over.

Even just in the moonlight he had never seen so much blood, bodies laying so lifeless. Not just any bodies, but ones he had known almost his whole life. People who cared for him, people who loved their daughter.

Shuffling upstairs sent a jolt of adrenaline through his body. He forced his feet to move, heading into the kitchen where the back staircase was. He slipped his phone in his pocket though remembered too late he never told Mikasa he was coming for her. If she died with the last thing being he wasn’t coming, he just…

Eren clenched his jaw as he stepped into the familiar room. It looked like it always did; he would even bet there were fresh cookies in the cookie jar. It wasn’t the same though, and it never would be again. Instead of going for a cookie as per habit, he grabbed a knife from a nearby holder. He gripped the plastic handle in his hand, trying to keep his arms from shaking as he walked up the small stairs.

It was almost too quiet upstairs making Eren’s stomach sink so low he wanted to throw up. Mikasa’s door was cracked open at the end of the hall though no light was coming out it. The closer he got he could hear scuffling, mumbling, a gasp, struggle.

His hand held the knife so tightly he thought he might crack the handle while he used his other hand to push open the door. He tried to brace himself for what he might see but it was no use, nothing could’ve made him ready to see a man, a stranger, pushing Mikasa up against her wall, his fat fucking fingers around her neck.

She was alive. Her face was changing from red to pale and her eyes were drooping from a lack of significant oxygen but she never even gave that bastard the satisfaction of one cry from her lips. Her half lidded eyes met Eren’s and all he saw was red.

He barely felt his body move let alone hear the scream that fell from the man’s mouth when Eren shoved the knife in the bastard’s back. It was enough for him to let go of Mikasa and fall to the ground. Eren took great satisfaction in seeing scratch marks all over the man’s neck and sides of his face as he went down. He was still squirming though, crying, cursing, trying to get back up. Like hell that was happening. Like hell he’d get a chance to ever lay a hand on Mikasa again. Eren swung down the knife on the masked man’s chest, stopping his movements while blood sank into Mikasa’s once tan carpet.

The knife fell from Eren’s hand, dropping to the floor as he fell back onto his heels. He brought a hand up to his forehead, staring at the body in front of him, and only then realizing his hand was splattered in blood.

“Eren,” Mikasa wheezed, her voice barely even coming out.

He felt his mind snap out of its daze. Mikasa was on her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath, her wide eyes watching him. He scrambled to crawl over to her, hands reaching out for her face. “Are you okay? Mikasa, are you okay?” He went to look at her neck but the sudden fearful look in her eyes made him stop.

“Eren,” she coughed, trying desperately to catch her breath, hands reaching up to grab his shoulders. “There’s one more.”

He felt the sharp, searing pain in his side before he saw the other man walk back into the room. Eren pushed himself up to his hands, trying to recover from the kick to his gut, trying to put himself in front of Mikasa who was calling his name but the new masked man grabbed a hold of the front of Eren’s shirt, pulling him up to his feet.

“Well, well, come to save your little girlfriend did you?” the man sneered from under the mask.

Eren reached his hands up to try and pry himself away from the man’s grip but he shoved Eren up against the wall, his head colliding back. His vision was coming in and out from the pain; he could barely keep up the struggle.

“Eren!” Mikasa cried.

“Why don’t we end this nice and easy,” the man said, reaching down to pull a gun from his belt. “And blow the brains out of your pretty little head.”

“Run,” Eren hissed, trying to find Mikasa through his pain clouded vision. “Mikasa, go!”

He felt the warm barrel of the gun press against his forehead and then it was gone. Eren staggered to his feet just as the masked man dropped with a cry. The knife fell to the ground once more. Mikasa was standing up in front of him, her breathing still haggard as she stared at the man who was just threatening Eren now withering on the ground.

Tears were in her eyes when she looked up. “I couldn’t let them hurt you,” she breathed.

Eren pulled her into his arms, letting her hands curl into his shirt as she buried her face into him. “We have to move.” He didn’t think he needed to say why.

She nodded but didn’t say anything more. Eren took her hand and pulled her out of the room. Mikasa tried to lead him down the main staircase but Eren tugged her in the other direction. There was no way he’d let her see what was still there in the living room. She must’ve assumed because with a choked sob she followed him with no other question.

Eren didn’t stop till they were out of the house, the night air almost refreshing if he still wasn’t in disbelief of what just happened. Get home. He had to get home. Just cross the street and get him and Mikasa safe.

It wasn’t safe though.

The street was flocked with masked people, all wandering around, wondering what the commotion was and wondering what was left for them. There was no way he could cross the street undetected. He had no idea what kinda weapons they had; he could never risk Mikasa’s life like that. His house door did look closed, curtains shut tightly so at least his parents were safe and he hoped it stayed that way.

Eren carefully stood in front of Mikasa, making sure she was close to the outer wall of her house but not close enough to make her relive the trauma she just had to go through. Tears were rolling down her face but she never made a noise, she just watched him.

“We’re gonna have to run. Are you okay to do that?” In the moonlight he could already see the bruises that asshole left on her neck and Eren just wanted to go back upstairs and kick that bastard.

She swallowed, her face starting to look more paniced. “Are you? Eren, you-”

“Hey.” He reached his hands up to her face, holding her so she looked up at him. “I will always protect you. Always.”

Mikasa nodded and reached up to wipe off the mix of blood and tears on her face.

A noise too close made Eren jump and he knew they had to go. He looked to the woods behind her house. It could be even more dangerous in there but what choice did that have?

“Till sunrise,” he said, taking her hand again.

“Till sunrise,” she repeated with a deep breath.

When Eren started to run for the woods, she followed right by his side.


	26. RWBY

_**xxdodox3** **:**  If you're taking any requests, could you do and Eremika and RWBY crossover, with maybe Mikasa a little based off of Blake? (They're both my favorites, I'd love to see how it turns out). Thank you!_

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Mikasa tried, she really did, to just ignore the rest of the loud room she was forced into for the night. She wanted to read her book and have everyone leave her alone but it seemed she was the only one.

“Hello!” a small voice spoke nearby.

Mikasa made an effort to ignore the girl who was standing in front of her.

“I’m Krista, it’s nice to meet you.”

Mikasa glanced up to see a small girl who looked a little too young to be here but she was all bright eyes and smiles as she stood in front of Mikasa.

“Krista,” another girl called from across the room making Mikasa glance over. She was a taller girl, with tanned skin and didn’t look nearly as pleased as Krista did. Mikasa recognized all of them from opening ceremonies but she tried not to keep anyone too close in her memory. “Leave her alone, not everyone wants to be your friend.”

“I was just being nice,” Krista said.

“That’s your problem, you’re too nice.”

“Ymir,” Krista said rolling her eyes. “You can’t be too nice.”

“I beg to differ.”

“That’s because you think you’re better than anyone,” another voice spoke up, a blonde with sharp blue eyes. Mikasa couldn’t remember her name but she remembered seeing her walk into the academy.

“Says you, Ice Queen,” Ymir snorted. “We don’t have any need for princesses here.”

The blonde girl crossed her arms from her spot on the floor and opened her mouth probably to snip something back.

“Hey guys, wait!” That was Sasha, Mikasa only remembered her because her and her friend Connie got called out at orientation for laughing at something rather loudly. “We shouldn’t be fighting. We’re a class, we should get to know each other better.”

The only response was a near complete silence; it was just Krista who agreed. Clearly no one else had that in mind.

“Nice try, Sash,” Connie said. He was laying down on his makeshift bed on the floor already looking like he was falling asleep. How Mikasa didn’t know since he practically slept through orientation.

There were only two remaining in the room, both of whom kept to themselves. A blond boy was sitting by the window, blue eyes behind his glasses staring up at the night sky. The other guy was Jean; Mikasa remembered since he gave her some compliment about the bow she wore in her hair when they ran into each other earlier. He was sitting in his own pile of blankets trying to sleep.

“Um, what’s your name?” It was Krista again, still smiling.

“Mikasa,” she answered simply.

Kritsa looked like she was gonna say something else but Ymir called her back over much to Mikasa’s relief. Krista gave her a wave before going over to sit next to the taller girl.

Mikasa let out a breath once the attention was finally off her. The less people knew about her the better, and the less time she actually had to spend with everyone the better. She looked down at her book but she found she couldn’t focus on the words at all. She tried to tell herself this wasn’t a mistake, that this was for the best. She needed to do something but if anyone found out, she had no idea what she’d do. She had to try though.

In the end it was her choice. Some people told her not to go and some told her to go but Mikasa chose to come here; something had to change or they’d live in fear their whole lives. No one deserved that. Mikasa was the right age with plenty of skill to get into the academy, now she just had to go through with the schooling and fool her peers long enough.

She flipped off the light she was reading by and laid down in her own bed, rolling over so her back faced the rest of the room. It took a while but Mikasa waited until she knew everyone in the room was sound asleep; some were easier to tell thanks to the snoring but some were so quiet she couldn’t tell.

When Mikasa stood up, no one stirred or asked her where she was going so she figured she was safe for now. She easily slipped out of the room used to being in the shadows. The halls of the residential wings were completely empty it probably being way past curfew; strangely no one was patrolling the halls to catch students like herself out of bed. It probably wasn’t the best thing to do, sneaking out of her room already but it had been a long few days and all she wanted was to see a familiar face.

She did have to be careful finding a way out of the academy the main doors being locked and probably alarmed. The kitchens were left empty though, complete with a back door for deliveries. Mikasa stepped out into the cool night air wishing she grabbed something more than her pajamas to walk outside in. The front yards were monitored, Mikasa already scouted that when she came in and she knew she wouldn’t have been the only one too. She wandered along the side of the building till she found one place that didn’t have any cameras watching at all times.

There was a small fence overlooking a garden, an old shed nearby. Nearly masked by the dark night was a boy sitting on the fence, feet pressed against one of the lower pieces of the fence. His back was to Mikasa but with his tail bobbing behind him it was impossible to be anyone else.

Mikasa leaned up against the fence next to where he was sitting, looking up to see those familiar turquoise eyes watching her. “How long did it take you to find it here?”

“Not long,” Eren shrugged. “I figured most all this place would be guarded but no one seems to care about the gardening club.”

“I think the academy has more important things on their mind.”

Eren snorted. “How was your first day?”

“Fine,” she shrugged. “I met my classmates.”

“Oh? How did that go?”

“I didn’t make any friends.”

Eren laughed a loud. “That sounds about right. Just try not to make any enemies, I don’t wanna have to break into this place.”

“Everyone is nice, and a little too friendly,” Mikasa said. “I even got a compliment on my bow.”

“I’ll tell my mom, I’m sure she’ll be thrilled someone loved her handiwork.” Eren rolled his eyes. “Who was it from?”

“Some guy in my class named Jean.”

“I might have to break into this place after all.”

“Stop it,” she said, nudging her shoulder into him but there was a smile pulling at her lips.

Eren sighed, his shoulders sagging and tail dropping a little. “I don’t like this, Mika. I don’t like this at all. It should be me in there, not you.”

“Ears a little easier to hide than a tail.” She reached behind him tugging on his tail just enough for him to lose his balance and make him wobble before he jumped off the fence. “Besides, I can fight titans just fine, there’s no need to worry.”

“I’m not worried about your fighting abilities,” Eren said, reaching out to hold her face in his hands. “If they found out about you…this is too dangerous.”

“I’m fine, Eren. I promise you, I’m fine.”

He sighed. Him and his mom were some of the ones who opposed this whole situation wanting to rather keep Mikasa safe but she could handle this. Everything would be okay. She opened her mouth to reassure him again, to get that worried wrinkle out of his forehead but he kissed her before she could. Even when they were kids Eren was a hard person to resist and Mikasa melted into him.

“It’s not the same back home without you,” Eren murmured against her.

“Then come visit me when you’re actually allowed to.”

“You know I can’t, it would be just as bad as them realizing that bow isn’t just super stiff fabric.”

Mikasa leaned in to rest her head on her shoulder, his familiar scent filling her nose. It was always comforting no matter what situation she was in. Ever since he found her hiding terrified in an alleyway after her parents had been the victims of a hate crime in the middle of her home. He brought her into his home with his mom who fussed over her immediately making sure Mikasa hadn’t gotten sick sitting in the cold for so long and his father the doctor who went to properly take care of her parents’ bodies.  

Eren was always be her side from that moment on, keeping her company, keeping the nightmares away at night, and making sure she always knew she was loved. The worst of this wasn’t what would happen if the academy found out she lied to them, it was being away from him.

“Please be careful,” Eren said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his warm body.

Mikasa nodded into his shoulder. “Always.” She sighed. “I should go back before they notice I’m gone.”

Eren pressed a kiss to her temple before jumping up to land his feet evenly on the fence behind them. “I’ll let you know the next time I can come back.”

A smile pulled at her lips as she watched him. “And how will you do that?”

“I have my ways.” He gave her that toothy grin of his before jumping off into the woods and disappearing behind the trees.

Mikasa already felt the warmth he brought her leave with him, just making her feel the chill of the night again. She slipped back into the academy through the kitchen and made her way back up to her room; thankfully she made sure to memorize the exact path so she wouldn’t be found wandering the halls in the middle of the night her first day here.

She quietly opened the large door to the room all her classmates were still soundlessly sleeping in. Mikasa crawled back into her bed and stayed still for a moment. It seemed like no one noticed her leave or come back which was a relief. She had excuses just in case but the less people knew of what she was doing the better.

She rolled over on her side to start to lull herself to sleep but something jabbed her leg. She reached into her pajama pocket, pulling out a folded up piece of paper she knew wasn’t there when she put them on. As quietly as she could she unfolded the paper.

_See, I told you,_ it read in a messy handwriting that brought back a little warmth in her chest.  _I have my ways. I love you. I’m always on your side._

Mikasa tucked the pieces of paper back on her pocket and curled up again, this time with a smile on her lips. Everything was gonna be okay.

She couldn’t afford to think any other way.


	27. Sailor Moon

_**Anonymous:**  Have you ever thought of writing a sailor moon Au with Mikasa as usagi and Eren as mamoru. Maybe with Armin and Annie as artemis and luna? Sasha, historia and ymir as scouts._

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Sometimes Mikasa dreamed in bright colors. She was always in the same place. It was somewhere she didn’t know, somewhere almost unearthly with tall crystal towers, streets that shone under the moonlight. She’d walk down the empty streets alone looking for anyone to come and tell her where she was. Mikasa was always in her school uniform, bag limply in her hand, like she found this place walking home from school. Nothing ever looked familiar but at the same time she always felt she had been here before especially when she reached out to touch the shimmering buildings all around her.

It wasn’t until she wandered into an open courtyard, the brightest roses she had ever seen growing all around her, that she’d see Sasha standing in a gazebo. She’d have her signature smile and brown hair pulled high up in a ponytail but she’d also be in a flowing dress of a bright green that brought out her eyes and made her face shine. Before Mikasa could run to Sasha though two other girls would appear next to her, ones Mikasa never saw before her dreams.

One was a short blonde girl dressed in a dress similar to Sasha’s but a bright sea green color and the other was a taller girl with dark eyes. Her dress was a deep, deep blue that shone as she looked down at the blonde girl. Sasha would wave and the other three would smile and nod like they knew something Mikasa didn’t. She walked past the gazebo deeper into the courtyard that was leading her closer and closer to the tall palace that rose above the whole city.

Just a bit further down Armin was always standing off to the side of the path, dressed all in black as he gave her his usual bright smile. He was with a blonde woman with sharp blue eyes wearing a long white dress, her hand over his arm. Whenever Mikasa would meet her eyes she’d give her a small smile and a nod.

“Keep going,” Armin would encourage, gesturing towards the path.

Mikasa followed the path until it stopped at the steps of the palace, ones that led up to tall, ornate doors. Her heart would pound in her chest, like she didn’t know if she should go up there or not. It seemed like a place for royalty, not for a little schoolgirl. She’d pause and wait there.

Sometimes Mikasa would wake up, wondering if she’d ever walk up those steps to see what was inside, and sometimes she’d stand there until she heard a child’s laugh. It was always a little girl, with her black hair pulled back in pig tails and bouncing as she ran down the steps. Another girl would follow, a little bit younger but with blonde hair and blue eyes like Armin’s. They were playing together Mikasa thought as they scurried into courtyard.

The dark haired girl would halt when she saw Mikasa, running over until Mikasa found herself kneeling down to catch the girl in her arms. The little girl would laughed ecstatically and pepper Mikasa’s face with kisses before squirming away to go back and run around with her friend. Mikasa would watch her leave, a feeling of warmth in her chest but for what reason she didn’t know.

Mikasa felt a tug towards the palace, like she was supposed to go inside. Before she knew it her feet led her up the tall steps and right up to the closed doors. She placed her hand on the doors to realize they were made of crystal as well. She’d jerk her hand away the moment they started to open. With her heart pounding in her chest, her bag long forgotten on the ground, she’d step into the palace.

The main room was so large Mikasa could only stare at the spiraling staircases, the sparkling chandelier, the crystal floor laid out in front of her. Far in the back of the room was another set of doors, these ones were already open though and Mikasa saw the stars shining up in the night sky. She was walking towards the balcony without thinking what she was doing. Even though it was seemingly night time, the air was warm when she stepped out, the wind blowing her hair as she looked over the beautiful city. Her hands curled over the balcony railing and her breath caught in her throat. Why was the place so familiar?

“I wondered how long it would take you.”

Mikasa knew she should’ve jumped at the sudden voice but she never did; the soft and gentle tone always made her feel at ease. She’d look up to see a man leaning over the balcony, a toothy smile on his lips that made her heart skip. He was dressed in a uniform of sorts, cape blowing behind him the in wind. He looked like royalty but his hair was always so messy and out of place it made her laugh.

He’d stand up and hold a hand out to her, his turquoise eyes looking at her with such adoration she almost didn’t know what she should do. At the same time, Mikasa couldn’t help but be drawn to him. His presence was so warm and comforting; it was so strange and so familiar at the same time. Mikasa placed her hand in his and it that moment everything seemed to make sense to her. She could never explain it when she woke up but she felt it when she took his hand.

He pulled her into him, on hand on her lower back, the other lacing his fingers with hers. It was then Mikasa would notice her school uniform had vanished, leaving her in a long with dress that shimmered like the moon. She’s lay her head on his shoulder, and he’d hold her close.

“I promise you, I’ll find you.”

She felt emotions in his words, she felt how much love she felt for this man when he held her. She could never say why or how but she knew. It was him, it was always leading her to him.

“Mikasa!”

The sudden shift in tones jolted her so hard Mikasa nearly fell out of bed. She sat up, her legs all tangled in her blankets.

“If you aren’t up and dressed already you’re gonna be late for school!” her mother called.

Mikasa looked over at her clock and sure enough, she was beyond late. Armin was probably already waiting for her at the bus stop, and the last thing she wanted to do was make him late too. “Yeah, I’ll be right down!” she yelled back, jumping out of bed and grabbing her uniform out of her closet. With a type of speed she could only achieve when she was very late for something Mikasa got dressed and ready for the day. She grabbed her backpack and bolted down the stairs, still combing her long hair as she did.

“Have a good day at school, dear,” her mother said, taking the brush from Mikasa’s hand and giving her a lunch bag instead. “Breakfast is in there, don’t forget to eat!”

“Okay, bye, Mom!” Mikasa said, waving behind her as she nearly ran out the door and onto the side walk. The nearest bus stop wasn’t too far away but far enough that if she didn’t hurry she would never make it. She knew Armin would wait if she didn’t show up but she just didn’t want to make her friend late because she overslept again.

She never used to have that problem, not until she started having those strange dreams a few months ago. Now it seemed like whenever she had them she was almost always late getting up and ready. Still running down the sidewalk she reached into her bag to grab her phone, just to check the time. Of course with her spectacular luck that morning, the moment she looked down she ran right into someone.

Mikasa skidded to a stop, throwing her hands over her mouth when she looked down to see the guy she hit down on his ass on the sidewalk. “I’m so sorry,” she gasped.

“Jesus, klutz, watch where you’re going,” he grunted, grabbing his bag that must’ve fell out of his hand when she ran into him. He was wearing a uniform but one she didn’t recognize; he must’ve been older than her or at a different school.

“I was late for school,” she murmured like that would make it any better.

He pushed himself back up to his feet, dusting off his pants a little before looking over to her.

Mikasa’s heart nearly stopped when he did. Those eyes, she knew those eyes.

“Well, life lesson, wake up earlier,” he rolled his eyes. He paused for a moment, like he was gonna say something else but instead the man turned his back to her walking away. “See you around, klutz.”

Mikasa started after him. Those eyes, that messy hair, the broad shoulders, she knew them so well even though she never met this man before in her life.

He was the one in her dreams.

She shook her head to get those images from her mind and started to run again because now she really was late. He couldn’t be the person who was always waiting for her at the end of the room, out on the balcony, the one who held her so tenderly. It was just a dream. It was impossible for that to be the same person.

Wasn’t it?


	28. Sherlock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve never actually seen BBC’s Sherlock so I tried to just do more general Sherlock Holmes in a modern setting. I assume it’s the same kinda pretense haha

_**Anonymous:**  Eren/Mikasa + Sherlock au_

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Armin generally didn’t leave his small apartment alone. It wasn’t that he minded being alone, cause it really didn’t bother him; it was more or less Eren was always the one to get Armin to come outside and leave his work and cases behind for a little bit. For someone who had enough devotion and dedication to become a doctor, Eren sure always had a lot of reasons for why putting off work was a good thing. Armin shook his head with a smile as he locked their front door and headed down the stairs to the door of the building.

Eren was at work this morning down at the clinic and Armin thought maybe he’d go meet his roommate and old friend for lunch. Maybe surprise him that Armin decided to leave his room without Eren’s persuasion.

It was a warm spring day in the city, one of the firsts in recent weather where Armin didn’t even need a jacket for, but it was a little windy. He reached back to his hair pulling it back in a short ponytail at the base of his neck to keep it out of his face as the warm breeze blew around. Eren’s clinic wasn’t too far away from where they lived but it was still a nice walk, maybe he’d even take the long way around just to enjoy the weather.

Since it was a work day during business hours a lot of people weren’t out on the sidewalk which Armin found himself grateful for. He was much more comfortable in a room full of papers and puzzles to put together than having to deal with crowds of people swarming around him. He turned onto the street where the Jaeger’s clinic was but a laugh halted him in his tracks. It was faint, a little distant, but Armin would know it anywhere.

He carefully backed up in his tracks, looking down the sidewalk to the left of where he had turned down the road. It was a quaint little shopping area on Main Street, with lots of cafes and little shops; the flowers and trees that lined the sidewalk were blowing happily in the wind. Armin quickly looked around for the source of the laugh. Eren wasn’t too hard to find and especially at the moment where he was leaning up against a stylized street light, his eyes and face bright. He wasn’t even wearing his scrubs, just his usual jeans and a t-shirt.

Armin knew Eren and he would never just skip out on work (not when his father was his boss) so he was either lying about working or Armin assumed the wrong hours he was working due to being misled by Eren. Him straight out lying to Armin was more than likely wrong; Eren couldn’t lie for shit. No, it was more likely Eren implied he was working his normal hours but he really wasn’t.

Or it was something else.

Armin watched Eren’s gaze, his wide smile. He wasn’t just looking around idly, killing time, no he was watching something. Judging by the smile and the fact he was standing in front of a café, it was a _someone_  he was watching. Now it was possible he had just gotten changed for his lunch break because he was meeting someone.

That was more likely, it would be a very Eren thing to do, especially if he was meeting a girl. Eren didn’t date all that often, he always said it was too hard to balance his job and having a relationship but Armin knew that wasn’t true; Eren could easily make plenty of time to have a relationship while working at the clinic. He only worked business hours, its not like he worked at a hospital. No, Armin knew it was just because he hadn’t met the right girl yet which generally Armin was okay with. He didn’t really like the idea of women he didn’t know hanging out the apartment, but he always said he’d adapt should the girl make Eren happy. Judging by that look that was still plastered to Eren’s face, not noticing that someone was staring at him for the past few minutes, whoever he was looking at could be that girl.

Armin walked over to a bench near where he was standing to sit down and maybe catch a peak at whoever Eren hadn’t ever wanted to mention. Armin couldn’t say it was a chance meeting; Eren never changed out of his scrubs if he didn’t have to. He brought clothes with him to get changed, no, this was a planned date.

It looked like Eren was saying something, reaching a hand out front of him to take something. Armin craned his head a bit to get a better look.

He wasn’t surprised easily. He could calculate most anything a head of time and if some new information was provided it wasn’t surprising more often than not as just new things to consider. Yet looking at the woman who was passing Eren a cup of ice cream had Armin surprised, very surprised. Her short black hair and dark eyes were hard to forget, yet standing next to Eren she was smiling brightly as opposed to the cold stare she gave Armin the first time he saw her.

He had caught her at nothing too serious, really just petty theft but it was the way she went about it that had the police coming to Armin for help. Mikasa Ackerman was smart, calculated, and she was very quick; she made it very difficult for the string of robberies to be led back to her, but Armin worked it out.

She didn’t get a very long sentence since it really wasn’t that serious, and he heard she got her time reduced to community service or something like that because the nature of why she was doing what she did but it was a closed case so Armin didn’t pay much attention to those details. Yet there she was, walking next to Eren, laughing at probably some ridiculous crack he made, and eating her ice cream. Eren helped Armin on the case like he normally did, and Armin had to wonder if his friend fell for the girl then or after.

It was an interesting situation; one Armin looked forward to figuring out deeper (and teasing Eren relentlessly about it). He watched them turn back to the road the clinic was on, their bodies standing very close together as they walked on the sidewalk. A smiled tugged at Armin’s lips.

Apparently, the case wasn’t closed quite yet.


	29. Sword Art Online

_**Anonymous:**  Eremika + sword art online au? Fluff please!_

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Mikasa woke up to sunlight streaming down on her face. She rolled over with a groan, she didn’t want to get up and work for her guild today. It was too early and her bed was so warm…in fact it was a lot warmer than usual. With a jolt Mikasa opened her eyes to stare up at a wooden ceiling that was definitely not her room in the guild. She almost started to panic but a figure in the doorway caught her eye and quickly eased her mind.

“Good morning,” Eren said, leaning up against the doorway. “Sleep okay?”

That’s right, she left the guild yesterday. There’d be no more fighting, no more leading people to their deaths, just this small cabin she and Eren found in the woods. She couldn’t bite back a smile. “Yeah, very good.”

“There’s not really anything to eat here so if you want we can venture out to the nearby town and check out the market. I still have plenty of money left over from fighting.”

Mikasa nodded though she knew she still had that ridiculous smile on her face. “We can do that.”

“Okay,” Eren said, his own smile brightening his eyes. “I’ll uh let you get dressed.” He looked like he didn’t quite want to leave her by the way he wasn’t turning around but he finally gave her a bit of a wave and went back into the main part of the cabin.            

Mikasa had to take a moment to let the past events come back to her before she slipped out of bed to get dressed into the one pair of casual clothing she had. It was such a whirl of memories but all she knew was both she and Eren decided to leave the life they forged in this world and just live a peaceful one. So they ran as far away from the dungeons and guilds as they could to a nearly completely wooded part of this world; the cabin looked like it was already abandoned so they had no trouble spending the night there, but Mikasa thought she might ask around town just to make sure. She wouldn’t want the owners to come back and find two teenagers living there.

The thought sent heat to her cheeks. They had a home together now. Eren willing left fighting to come be with her, to come be with just her; it was more than she ever would’ve imagined when she met Eren here trapped in this world.

Mikasa stepped out of the bedroom and walked across the wooden floors till she found Eren already outside. He was leaning up against the railing of the front porch that overlooked the surrounding woods. She quietly closed the door behind her as to not scare him before going to lean over the rail.

“It’s so peaceful out here,” he said, giving her a glance.

“Don’t miss the fighting and monsters then?” she teased, but she was curious. Eren was a fighter since the day they got trapped, she assumed he didn’t leave that life lightly nor did she want him to regret leaving just for her.

Eren shook his head. “Nah, I mean, I’d like to be able to go home but I don’t know if that will ever happen at this point. Might as well make the best of it, and this seems better than nearly dying on a regular basis.”

There was that smile on Mikasa’s lips again.

He pushed himself off the railing. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Eren jumped down the stairs of the porch while Mikasa followed after him to the dirt path that cut through the woods; they at least knew where it led since it was how they found the cabin in the first place. It was so quiet out in here as opposed to the frontlines were Mikasa was used to; she heard the birds chirping, the wind blowing through the trees, animals scurrying over the ground. Maybe out here she could actually forget they were stuck in a virtual world, it was just so beautiful.

“It’s a pretty long walk,” Eren said, turning around to look at her. “You gonna be okay?”

“I fought on the front lines,” Mikasa rolled her eyes, though she was still smiling. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay walking down a path.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t want you to trip over a rock or something.”

“Are you telling me that you think I’m clumsy?” she nudged him with her shoulder making Eren laugh.

“Not at all, I just wanted to see if you…” Eren hesitated for a moment and Mikasa could see a light tint of red on his cheeks. “Wanted me to carry you.”

I was such a different atmosphere here with Eren then when they were fighting almost every moment of every day. Mikasa actually felt free for the first time since they got here. “You want to give me a piggy back ride?”

“Yeah, let me feel manly for once.” He moved till he was standing in front of her hunched over a little and his hands reached out to catch her.

Mikasa thought he was being silly but she really wasn’t gonna miss out on the chance to be that close to him. She jumped up onto his back, her hands gripping around his neck and his hands catching her legs easily. “Feel better?” she asked as he started to walk again, her body shifting along with his stride.

“Much.”

Silence settled back over them as they walked down the path. They didn’t come across anyone just a few animals running out in front of them, but other than that the walk was very peaceful. Mikasa sighed lightly as she carefully rested her head against Eren’s; he didn’t say anything so she figured he didn’t mind too much.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what? Carrying you down the path?” his voice sound amused.

Mikasa swatted at his chest. “For taking me here.”

Eren was quiet or a moment. “It wasn’t much of a choice. I’d always choose you.”

She heart lept up into her throat at his words, his soft tone. She knew Eren since their first night here and she’d never forget how he saved her life when he could have just run like everyone else did; they were together ever since. Mikasa couldn’t imagine being here without him and she wouldn’t want to…not even if they did manage to get out. She leaned in to press a kiss against his cheek; it was easy to see that red tint to his face again.

She let out a small laugh when he adjusted his arms, hiking her up a little bit more on his back. Mikasa was more than happy to put away her warrior life for a home with Eren, and maybe a real home if they could ever return home but for now, this was fine with her.


	30. Tangled

_Anon asked for Eremika and Tangled :3_

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“How much longer are you going to keep my eyes closed,” Mikasa laughed as she tried to walk without actually being able to see. She felt Eren’s body behind her, leading her so she wouldn’t trip, his hands still covering her eyes.

“After all the trouble I went through to surprise you? I don’t think so.”

Mikasa sighed but Eren clearly wasn’t having any of it, his hands still clasped over her face. She was amazed that she even trusted him enough to follow him so blindly and yet, the Eren she was walking with now wasn’t the smug and cocky Eren she hit numerous times in the head with a frying pan yesterday. Well, she supposed she wasn’t even the same shy girl who left her tower just yesterday.

“Alright, here we are.” Eren stepped back so Mikasa could see where they were.

She was standing on a dock, the sun setting over the water that spread out in front of her, one small boat rocking in the small waves. “Is this for us?” she asked, trying to bit back a smile.

“No, I took you all the way out here to get on the boat without you.” Eren rolled his eyes but he tugged on her arm to get her to follow. “Of course it’s for us. I had to bribe the owner to get it, but it’s ours for the night.” He leaned over on the dock to hold the small boat steady and gestured for her to come in.

Mikasa lifted her dress a little as she stepped into the boat trying not to tip it over as she sat down. Eren jumped in after to untie the boat from the dock and sat down. He pulled out an oar and started to bring the boat out to the center of the bay.

“Ever imagine this day would come?” Eren asked, his eyes on her as he steered the boat.

Mikasa shook her head, looking around at everything she could. She spent so long being locked up with nothing but her own imagination that seeing even this small part of the world was almost too much or her.

The sun was almost set, golden hues reflecting across the lake.

“Thank you for doing this,” Mikasa said looking back to the boy across from her. “I know I pretty much strong armed you into it.”

“Literally, you’re very strong.”

“I mean it though. You could have just left me right outside of town but you brought me in and showed me the whole town, and then got a boat, which,” she reached out to hold onto the sides when a bigger wave rocked it too much. “I have never been in before. Thank you.”

Eren was quiet for a moment as he watched her. He looked like he was going to say something but he pointed behind her instead.

She turned around to see the first lantern floating up into the darker sky. It looked only like a little spec from where they were but it was still so beautiful. Only a moment later there were dozens upon dozens lanterns floating up towards the sky.

Mikasa gasped as she quickly shifter her body to get a better look. They were the most beautiful thing she ever sesaw. All these years she knew they weren’t stars, she knew they were something so much more than that. Seeing them on her birthday every year always made her feel like she wasn’t completely alone, and seeing them here in person, the lights reflecting off the water made her realize that she never was. This was always out here waiting for her.

She turned around to see Eren watching her, a smile on his face, not a cheesy one or a smug one, but a real one.

“For you,” he said as he handed her one of the two lanterns in his hand.

Mikasa held it for a moment, just looking at how pretty it was before she lifted her hands and let it fly up to the sky, Eren’s following hers shortly after. She looked back over to him, the lights from the lanterns lighting up his face and she couldn’t help but think how young he looked. She remembered the stories her told her, about living in the orphanage after both his parents died, about how he always wanted to be more than he was. It make Mikasa’s heartache that like her, he really missed out on so much of the world.

She reached behind her to pick up her bag. “I’m sorry, Eren, I should have given you this before. I was just afraid you’d leave if you did but I’d want that to be your choice. I know what it’s like to live without choices and I wouldn’t want that for you.” Mikasa swallowed as she reached in to pull out the treasure that had brought her and him together in the first place but his hand closed the bag before she could.

She looked up to see him leaning in close to her. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “You showed me there’s a lot more of life to live than stealing from people.”

“I haven’t even been a part of the world, the real world, that long.”

“Exactly,” he mumbled leaning in closer to her.

Mikasa wasn’t sure exactly what to do when she felt his lips against hers, but it only took a moment to melt into his touch. He reached both her hands up to his face as she kissed him back. Her whole body felt like butterflies when he put his hands on her waist.

She broke away trying to catch her breath when her eyes met his. “Does that mean you aren’t leaving?”

He gave her that crooked smile of his. “Just promise me you won’t hit me over the head with more frying pans. You hit hard enough you don’t need its help.”

She looked away for a moment like she was thinking.

“Oh come on, really?”

Mikasa laughed as she threw her arms around his neck, her head falling against his shoulder while his arms pulled her closer. She could still see the lanterns floating overhead, lighting up the whole bay. They really had always been guiding her home.


	31. Tarzan

_**Anonymous:**  hey lyssa, i'm kinda new to your blog and i don't know if you're still accepting requests, but if you are and when you have time, i would love an eremika tarzan!au with eren being the one exploring along with hanji and her obsession with gorillas and mikasa being the one raised by them. Or just anything else that you wish you make the rules <33_

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“Eren! Keep up will you!” Hanji’s voice called from somewhere in front of Eren but honestly he couldn’t even see her in all this thick vegetation.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” he grunted, trying to keep a grip on both his backpack on his back that seemed to snag on every branch imaginable and his sketch book in his hand, his very sweaty hand. True to its nature, this jungle was ridiculously warm like Eren suspected but all the gear Hanji was making him lug around wasn’t helping at all.

He knew it was needed to document their trip to research the gorillas but Eren was beginning to think Levi had the right idea waiting back at base while Hanji got all her excitement out. Eren couldn’t even see her brown head of hair between the trees anymore. He sighed.

“Hanji!” His voice echoed through the jungle, a flock of birds took off somewhere making some of the trees shake. He expected, you know, the woman who took him in and raised him once his own mother passed to at least hear him when he called but no, nothing. Okay really that wasn’t too uncommon when Hanji got excited over something. “C’mon, Hanji!”Eren tried again. “I didn’t think my summer would be getting lost in a jungle.”

Well, actually that wasn’t too true, he kinda expected it at least once. Eren kept walking trying to follow the path she left hoping not to wander too far away from their camp alone. Hanji’s husband Levi was a good tracker so he’d probably find Eren if he did get lost, and Hanji too for that matter.

At least it was gorgeous out here. Everything was so green, the plants and flowers vibrant, little creatures wandering around in the distance of the trees, the sun so bright and the sky bluer than Eren had ever seen. He didn’t even second guess himself when Hanji asked if he wanted to come or if he wanted to stay home. How could he miss something like this?

Eren still couldn’t see Hanji anywhere. He supposed it was probably better to just turn around and follow his own path back to camp to get Levi to find Hanji; he was an expert at it after all. Maybe Eren could just sit at base and draw some of the scenery out here, maybe even see a few animals up close. He turned around to go back and get Levi but found that would prove to be difficult with a huge black panther standing in Eren’s path.

His breath caught up in his throat as he stared at the creature that was poised low, teeth bared and snarling. Eren knew if he tried to run he’d be dead. There was no way he could outrun a Goddamn panther. He tried to shuffle his sketch book and reach for the side arm Levi taught him how to use just in case but Eren’s hand couldn’t stop shaking. He swallowed hard. He supposed at least his obituary would be interesting: foster mom takes her son to Africa to see the gorillas, son spends a half hour in the jungle and gets eaten by a panther.

The panther lunged and Eren closed his eyes bracing himself for an attack. Something hit him from the side, taking his breath away and throwing him up into the air. He expected a little more pain than a sore side and then maybe to hit a tree or something from the force but when the tearing of his skin didn’t happen Eren opened an eye. He nearly did scream that time.

He wasn’t on the forest ground at all. In fact, the forest ground and the trees were going by very quickly underneath him. There was an arm tightly around him, holding him up in the air. Eren risked looking up at whoever had a hold on him. He didn’t really get a good look since the next thing he knew he was being thrown through the air. He landed hard on his stomach in some kinda canopy up in the trees. Eren scrambled to catch his sketch book before it fell out of the tree and pushed his back up against the trunk so he didn’t fall out. Two feet hit the thick branch shaking it a little and making Eren look up to see who had taken him.

The sight left Eren speechless.

It was a girl. She looked maybe around his age with long black hair, dressed in a sort of makeshift outfit made out of animal skins. Her dark eyes were watching him carefully as she held a spear in one hand, maybe unsure if he was friend or foe.

“Um, hello,” Eren sputtered holding up his hands to her in what he hoped was a peaceful motion. “I’m Eren, I’m here with my parents but I got a little lost.”

Her stance dropped some of its aggression but she still watched him carefully.

Eren had no idea if she could even understand him. “Um, thank you for saving me. Do you…do you live here?” Hanji told him this area wasn’t inhabited with humans but these places were so thick with vegetation it was nearly impossible to know for sure.

The girl let her spear go and slowly approached him. She didn’t even make a noise but dropped into a crouch in front of him. Her hands reached out and pulled lightly at his hair and then his face.

Eren laughed nervously. “Y-yeah, uh, what’s your name?”

She blinked at him.

“Um, name? Uhh…” He pointed to himself and said, “Eren.” He gestured to her to see if she would get the message.

She jabbed him in the chest kinda hard. “Eren.”

“Ah, yeah,” he said, rubbing where her finger had poked him. “That’s me. Um, you?” He tried poking her the same way.

The girl grabbed a hold of his hand in her rough and calloused hands and pointed his finger at herself. “Mikasa.”

“Mikasa,” Eren said, a smile pulling at his lips. Wow, she actually understood him. “That’s a very pretty name. Do you live here?”

“Here?” she asked, her head cocking to the side a little.

“Uh, yeah.”Eren gestured out towards the jungle. “Here, in the trees.”

She nodded eagerly, her previous apprehension clearly gone. “My home, my family.”

“Mine too,” Eren said. “Well, kinda, we don’t live here obviously but my family is with me. Um, hang on.” He pulled his sketch book from under his arm and flipped through the pages. Mikasa dove her hands for it but Eren held it up over his head before she could tear the pages. “Hey, hey, patience.”

She seemed to get that, because she huffed and rocked back on her heels.

Eren couldn’t help but smile as he looked for the page he wanted. She was actually really cute. “Here,” he said, holding up a picture he sketched of Hanji and one of Levi on the next page. “My family, my…” It was a little hard to explain the situation to some who clearly didn’t speak the same language as him. “My mom and my dad.”

Mikasa wrinkled her nose and pointed to the pictures and then back to Eren. She shook her head like she didn’t believe him.

“Yeah, I know,” he snorted. “I don’t look like them. My parents they died when I was little.” He motioned his hand down. “Hanji and Levi adopted me.” Eren had no idea if Mikasa understood any of that.

She leaned in very close to Levi’s picture, trailing her finger over his eyes, his dark hair. She looked up at Eren, her forehead furrowed.

“He looks like you, huh,” Eren said. “Levi is half Japanese; I have no idea if that means anything to you.”

Mikasa blinked at him.

“I suppose not.” He flipped through his stretch book again. “Um, here, that’s me.”

She ran her hand over the jaw of the picture he drew of himself before reaching out and tracing the same line over his actual face, up to his nose, his cheeks. She pointed back at the book. “Mikasa.”

“You want me to draw you?”

She nodded eagerly.

“Okay.” He reached into the side pocked of his backpack and pulled out one of his pencils he left there incase he’d need it quick. “Um, sit back a little.”

She rocked back on her heels, sitting down on the branch, eyes watching him. Eren looked from her to his blank page of paper before back up at her again. He ran the pencil over the familiar paper trying to capture her firm jaw, her cheek bones, small nose, her gorgeous eyes, thin eyebrows, her forehead, and then her thick hair falling down past her shoulders. Mikasa moved around a lot, unable to sit still though she seemed to recognize the concentrated look on Eren’s face and didn’t ask him any questions or jab at his face again.

Eren wondered what she was doing here as he drew, trying to capture her free spirited essence. Were there other humans here? A native tribe living in the jungle? He didn’t want to assume but even as he drew her he couldn’t help but pick up on features that seemed Asian to him. She looked like Levi, a surprising amount like him and Eren had to wonder how she even ended up in a jungle in the middle of Africa.

“Eren?” she asked making him glance up.

“Yeah?”

Her face was inquisitive as she watched him. “Home?”

“My home? It’s very far away.” He turned his pencil around, erasing some of his earlier sketch lines. “Across the ocean.”

“The water?”

“That’s right, across the water.”

“Boat?”

“Well, a plane and then a boat, yes.”

She looked like she was trying to find the right word to say, her forehead pressed together as she thought. A word slipped by her lips, one that Eren didn’t know what it meant but he recognized the sounds.

“What was that, Mikasa?”

She shook her head, looking surprisingly shy. Eren let it drop, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable but he recognized the language; he heard Levi curse out people in it enough to know Japanese when he heard it. Maybe she wasn’t native to here after all.

“Okay, all done.” Eren flipped the book around to show her.

Mikasa instantly crouched up in front of him again, her eyes wide. She reached a hand out to touch the picture.

“Did I do okay?” Eren didn’t know if she knew what he asked her but she gave him a smile as she pointed to the picture.

She opened her mouth to say something but a loud noise cut her off.

“Eren!”

His head snapped up at the sound of Hanji’s voice.

“Eren! Where are you!” Hanji called again, her voice panicking.

Mikasa must’ve recognized the look in his eyes or maybe even the tone of Hanji’s voice because she pointed down to the forest below them. “Mom?”

“Ah, yeah, she probably thinks I got eaten or something.”

Without another word Mikasa scooped Eren back up over her shoulder, his pencil flying out of his hands, and jumped off the branch. Before Eren even had a chance to properly freak out, they were swinging across the vines of the jungle. Mikasa was getting closer to the ground as she jumped effortlessly holding both her and Eren up. Once the initial nausea passed, Eren couldn’t help but be impressed as he watched her hair fly in the wind; she was probably about ten times stronger than he ever was. She kept moving until her feet hit the ground right outside the camp. Either she followed Hanji and Levi’s voices or Mikasa already knew they were here.

“What did I do?” Hanji was probably already in full freak out mode. “He was right behind me and then I turned around and he was gone? I should’ve looked more. What if we can’t find him? Oh God.”

“Relax,” Levi said from nearby. “I’ll find him.”

“I’m good,” Eren said, stumbling into camp, finding that swinging across a forest left him with a little less balance than he thought he had.

“Oh my God, Eren!”Hanji ran forward catching his shoulders before he completely lost his balance and fell over. “I was so worried, where were you?”

“Oh you know, almost getting eaten by a panther.”

Hanji grabbed onto his face, her big brown eyes watching his. “Do you know what kinda panther it was?”

Levi snorted from his spot at the table where he was cleaning some weapon. “Mother of the year.”

She gave him a glare. “Obviously he’s okay, I was just asking.” She looked back up to Eren, still running her shaking hands on his face. “How did you get away? There’s no way you could run that fast.”

“Oh, um,” Eren turned around half expecting Mikasa to be long gone, but she was standing awkwardly by the entrance of the camp. “Her, Mikasa, she jumped in and got me to safety.”

Hanji let go of Eren and slowly stood up, giving one of her signature smiles. “Well, hello, dear. Would you like to come in?”

Mikasa bit down on her lip and looked to Eren.

“It’s okay, they’re my family, they won’t hurt you.” He gestured for her to step in the area which Mikasa did, eyeing both Hanji and Levi. “Hey, Levi, would you mind trying to talk to her?”

Levi looked up from the table, watching Mikasa as she took a few steps closer to him. He grunted out a phrase Eren knew well. It loosely translated to “what do you want, brat?”.

Mikasa looked surprised, looking back to Eren before taking another few hesitant steps towards Levi. She answered him but Eren could only catch a few words in her response and nothing that made sense. Levi seemed to be able to understand her just fine though, he spoke back to her and the tension in Mikasa’s shoulders eased.

“Well, would you look at that,” Hanji said, dropping her arm over Eren’s shoulders. “If I had known we needed to take you to Africa to get you a girlfriend I would’ve done it years ago.”

Eren snorted. “Says the woman who nearly let me get eaten by a panther.”

Hanji pressed a kiss to his temple. “I would’ve never let it happen.”

Eren watched Makasa, the girl who saved his life for no reason really, hesitantly interacting with Levi speaking a language she couldn’t with Eren or maybe with anyone else who came around here. A smile pulled at his lips. Maybe it wasn’t the gorillas they were meant to find here.


	32. Tarzan II

_**Anonymous:**  OMG Lyssa, i just read the tarzan fic and i just wanna say that it's awesome, not that every fic you write is awesome but this one just made my whole day. Not as a request, but you thought of making a part 2?_

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Eren sat out in the humid afternoon air of their camp. On any other day he might’ve whined to Levi, who was sitting across from Eren at the table, about just how damn hot it was but today all Eren could do was stare over at the mysterious girl sitting cross legged on the ground a little bit away.

Mikasa was watching with wide eyes as Hanji showed Mikasa pictures from different books. Hanji was doing pretty much what she did every day since Mikasa came around; trying to teach her more English so they could communicate better with her. It was working for the most part.

“Where do you think she came from?” Eren asked Levi, though Eren’s eyes never moved from Mikasa.

“Same places you came from, kid,” Levi grunted.

Eren resisted rolling his eyes. “I meant do you think he was born here? Do you think there’s other people here?”

“We’ve been over this already. The girl said there was no one else like us here.”

“She also says she doesn’t remember being anywhere else but here though.”

Levi looked up from whatever he was carving with his knife. “Did it ever occur to you she was lying?”

Eren shrugged. Sure it occurred to him, but it never seemed like she was lying. Once she got used to them, her eyes always shone with such open honestly, such curiosity. No, Eren didn’t think she was deceiving them, he just thought she had been alone for too long; so long she didn’t even remember what it was like to have human company.

He looked over to Levi who was back dwindling down some wood. “She reacted funny when I mentioned coming over by a boat. Do you think maybe she got wrecked here as a kid?”

“And didn’t get eaten by a panther in five seconds here like you almost did?”

Eren ignored Levi’s snarky comment. “She’s tough, you’ve seen her. Maybe she survived that somehow and lived off the land.”

“You watch too much TV, kid. This isn’t  _Gilligan’s Island._ ”

“Seriously, Levi?” Eren snorted. “When was the last time you even watched TV? There’re plenty more up to date survival TV shows than that one.”

“You think I can get through a TV show without her jabbing her big mouth the whole time?” He gestured vaguely over to where Hanji was sitting.

Well, that was true at least. Eren loved Hanji but she was one of those people who had to talk through every movie and figure it out before the actual ending. “Then how did Mikasa know Japanese? She had to have been from there.”

Levi sighed. “Look, I understand you wanna help her, Eren. She’s a pretty little thing.”

Eren felt heat rise up to his cheeks but he hoped if he ignored it so would Levi.

“There’s no use wondering until she wants to tell us herself. Yeah, I’ve spoken with her, but she doesn’t seem to wanna tell me too much about anything.”

“I wonder why,” Eren snorted.

“I’m gonna ignore that, brat.” Levi looked back down at his carving. “What I mean is she seems far more willing to open up to you. I dunno what you did, but she trusts you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Eren mumbled looking back over to where Mikasa was sitting, wide eyes as she repeated whatever Hanji was teaching.

“Maybe it’s your charm and intelligence, oh, wait, wasn’t she the one to save you from being mauled?”

Eren kicked his leg over to get a hit on Levi’s leg but the older man moved out of the way just in time, as always.

“Eren?” Mikasa’s sudden and close call of his name nearly had him falling out of his chair.

He looked up to see her standing right in front of his chair, arms behind her back as she watched him intently. “Hey, done with Hanji already?”

Mikasa’s brow furrowed and for a second he thought she didn’t understand him. She leaned closer to him, something like maybe worry in her eyes. “Eren…is hot?”

Eren swallowed at her choice of words, trying to ignore the flash of heat to his face while Levi snorted across the table at them. “Oh, um…” he murmured, backing away a little as she leaned in even closer.

“Is hot?” She tried again reaching a hand up to his forehead. “Sick?”

She meant hot, like he had a fever. His skin was hot.

“Ah, yeah,” he said and Mikasa looked even more concerned than before. “No, wait, not sick hot, just, you know…hot…hot?”

Levi was actually laughing now and Eren really wished he could try and kick Levi again.

Mikasa straightened herself up but this time she was smiling. She pointed to her chest with her finger; a motion Eren had learned meant “come with me”.

“Okay,” he nodded, standing up from the table. It didn’t last too long; she already had his hand and was dragging him off deeper into camp.

He knew she was leading him to the lake that Levi intentionally set their base by.  It was far from the first time Eren went to it but it was the first time she forcibly dragged him off to it. He barely even had time to ask what she wanted to do here considering the moment they hit the bank that dropped into the glistening water, Mikasa grabbed a nearby vine and swung herself into the air. She let go right in the middle of the lake and her body fell in with a splash, waves ripping the otherwise still water.

Eren leaned over the bank watching for her. She popped back up, flipping her long hair back out of her face and looking up at him with an excited look on her face.

“Eren!” she said pointing at him. “Go!”

He looked up at the vine that had swung back over to him, just in reaching grasp and then down to the water. “You know, Mikasa, I’m really okay up here. I can stick my feet in or something.”

“Eren,” Mikasa laughed, in a very fond and amused tone.

Why him? Why did she choose to trust him like this? He would’ve assumed she’d attack anyone she didn’t recognize out of survival but she never seemed distrustful of him.

“Here,” she said, pointing her finger to her chest again.

Come here, she was saying. Come with me. She trusted him for some ungodly reason; maybe he could trust her too. Granted trusting someone to be kind to you, and then trusting someone to not try and drown you in an African lake seemed like two different things.

He pulled off his shirt and tossed it off to the side, before doing the same to his boots and socks, leaving him in just long shorts. Eren carefully grabbed onto the vine that really didn’t seem all too secure. “You’re positive this won’t kill me?”

She laughed and it sounded like music. “Eren fought off panther.” Mikasa held up her hands in fists like she was gonna start boxing, probably something Levi taught her. “Strong.”

“Pretty sure that was you who saved me, not me.”

She laughed again as she pointed to him. “Strong, now come here.”

That was the first time she was so direct, almost a sentence. Maybe she really was taking in everything they were teaching Mikasa to communicate with them. She was the one who was being strong; she was trusting strangers, learning a new language, a whole new world and culture. If she could be that strong, then maybe he could be a little too.

Without giving himself a chance to think he grabbed the vine and kicked his feet off the bank, launching himself into the air. He really did try not to close his eyes, but when he let go, his body falling through the air, he couldn’t quite help it.

The cool water hit his body and he sunk beneath the surface. There was no ground under his feet, just the fresh water that cooled him down almost immediately, mixed with the burning urge to breathe. Using just his legs and arms he swam up until his head broke through, mouth gasping for air. He heard Mikasa’s laughter when he reached up to push his soaking wet bangs out of his eyes, his legs keeping him treading the water.

“Eren!” she exclaimed, a wide smile on her lips. “See?”

“Yeah, I see,” he said, coughing up a little bit of water he must’ve swallowed somewhere. Before he could fully recover though, Mikasa’s arms were around his neck, hugging him tightly and nearly pushing him under again. He wasn’t sure if it was because she saw Hanji hug him or if it was something Mikasa remembered from whatever life she lived before here but all Eren felt was a warmth that spread through his chest.

She pulled back, keeping her hands on his shoulders. “See, Eren is strong.”

A smile pulled at his lips. “Maybe a little, huh?”

Mikasa nodded. She was beautiful, this sweet, kind soul who lived alone for longer than Eren could even imagine and here she was smiling at him like he was the best thing she ever knew. She pointed to her chest, come with me, and ducked her head under the water.

Eren had no idea what he was getting himself into when Hanji announced they were all going on a long trip to the jungle. He still had no idea what he was doing, no idea how he should handle this girl who collided into his life.  He supposed there really was only one thing to do.

He held his breath and pushed himself underwater.


	33. Tokyo Ghoul Re

_Anon requested Eremika and Tokyo Ghoul_

* * *

“Good morning, Miss Ackerman. How’re you doing today?”

Mikasa waited a moment before she turned around to face her customer at the counter. She needed that time to bite back the horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and to put on a smile; it never got easier hearing his voice. Regardless, she turned around, smile on her face as she continued to dry the mug in her hands. “Good morning, Mr. Jaeger. I’m doing very well, thank you. How’re you?”

His eyes were bright as he looked over to her, a toothy grin on his lips; it made Mikasa’s heart ache. “I’ll be better when you start calling me Eren.”

“Whenever you start calling me by my first name I will.” That was a lie. “The usual?”

Eren nodded as he took a seat on one of the stools by the main counter of the café. “How’s business been today?”

Mikasa turned back around to start to work on his coffee just the way she knew he liked it. It was always the same thing, always the same questions every day at the same time. “A little slow today, but good.”

“That’s good, you need a break from all the hard work you do.”

She tried to force herself not to smile since he couldn’t actually see her but hearing that light tone in his voice always made her smile. It was wonderful to see him smile so often, to hear his happy tone, his teasing words, his carefree attitude but she didn’t know if all that was worth the fact that he didn’t remember her at all.

Mikasa knew that was selfish; of course it was worth it. She saw Eren go through absolute hell time and time again. She watched his mind and body tortured, tormented till he didn’t even seem like the boy she had known almost her whole life. He deserved to have no memory of what she still remembered. He deserved to be happy.

That still didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell every time he looked at her and didn’t know her more than the pretty girl who worked at the café down the street from his apartment. He didn’t look at her like he used to, like he knew her better than she knew herself, like he understood the bond they shared with each other, like he’d never let anything bad happen to her, like he loved her.

Mikasa’s breath hitched in her throat as she tried to bite back the tears from coming to her eyes. She couldn’t do that to herself, she promised she wouldn’t; not when she still had to see him every day.

“Here you go.” She put on her best smile as she slid the steaming hot mug to him. He didn’t need to ask for what drink he wanted the first day he walked in her doors. She would’ve never forgotten what he liked.

“Thank you, it smells delicious like always.” There was that big grin that made Mikasa’s heart skip even though she tried so hard to resist.

“You’re too kind to me.” She gave him a smile back as she pulled out a rag and started cleaning off the counter near where he was sitting. There were a few other customers lingering in the café but she always found it so hard to pry herself away from Eren when he came in, even against her better judgment. Yeah, he wasn’t the boy she once knew with all the memories of her and his previous life but he still talked like him, still smiled like him, still flirted like him; he was technically Eren, even if the events that had shaped the boy she loved weren’t remembered any more.

“Good,” Eren said, taking a sip of his drink. “I need to be able to keep my chair here.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes. “You’ll always have a chair here.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Seeing your face is the highlight of my day.”

His words both made her heart flutter and made her want to cry. It had been years since his memory was suppressed and at least a year since he walked in her door. She needed to get over thinking the person she knew was still in there; that maybe if he came in here enough he’d remember.

“Flattery isn’t going to get you free coffee.”

“Ah, it’s worth a try.”

She really shouldn’t want him to remember; he was happier this way and he was free like she always wanted him to be. It was just she wanted him to be the man she knew inside and out. She wanted him to be her Eren again.

“Hey, Mikasa?”

Her name on his lips jolted her. It sounded so familiar, but so different. “Yes, Eren?” She gave him a teasing smile as his name rolled off her tongue; apparently she didn’t lie to him earlier.

“Are you busy tonight?”

Mikasa’s heart clenched as she watched Eren. He was looking at her with both a kinda bashful and hopeful glint in his eyes; he looked like a little boy again. “No,” she said carefully, unsure if she should be even saying that. “I have someone else closing up.”

Eren’s face brightened up some. “There’s, ah, this new restaurant that opened up a few weeks ago. I’ve been meaning to go and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me?”

She knew, she knew in the pit of her stomach she should say no; opening this door would only put herself in more pain. He wasn’t the Eren she knew but she couldn’t stop hoping he’d appear somehow. It wasn’t fair to her and it wasn’t fair to him.

“I’d like that,” she smiled completely ignoring what she knew she should be doing. When he smiled at her like that it was impossible to resist him.

“Yeah?” he nearly blurted, looking both surprised and ecstatic. “Okay, awesome.” He quickly drank down the rest of his coffee before pulling out the appropriate amount of money and a tip that was always far too big for one cup of coffee. “I’ll, uh, come meet you at your place tonight then around 8ish?” Eren pushed himself to his feet as he shoved his wallet back in his pants.

“Okay.” Mikasa bit the bottom of her lip, trying to ignore the way her heart was racing from his boyish smile.

“I’ll see you then.” This time his smile was softer, a little more delicate; it was like the way he once looked at her. He gave her a wave and started to head for the door.

“Eren.”

He quickly spun around to look at her again.

“You don’t know where I live.” She couldn’t hold back a small laugh when he got that embarrassed look on his face.

“I guess that would help or I’d be knocking on everyone’s doors looking for you.”

Mikasa pulled a napkin out from nearby before pulling her pen out of her apron pocket. She jotted down her apartment address quickly before holding it out to him.

Eren took it from her, carefully looking over the address as if he meant to memorize it right there. He ran his finger over the napkin and Mikasa half wondered if he remembered it; it did used to be his home too. “Thank you.” He smiled when he looked up at her. “I’ll see you then, Mikasa.”

“I’ll be there.” She had to smile back, it was so hard not to when he looked so happy, when her heart was still pounding in her chest.

He slowly walked backwards towards the door, giving her one last wave before pushing the door open with his back and disappeared outside.

Mikasa watched after him, her pen still in her hand.

“Do you think that was a good idea?” Armin must have walked over from cleaning the other tables through the café.

“No,” she said instantly, looking over to her other old friend.

“I do,” Armin shrugged causing Mikasa to blink at him. “Look, I know it’s hard to see him every day when he doesn’t remember us at all, trust me I understand, but it doesn’t mean it’s all gone. You see the way he looks at you; he’s still drawn to you even though he just knows you as Mikasa from the café.”

“But he’s not the same. He’s not-”

“Yes, he is,” Armin laughed lightly. “He’s Eren. He might not be the one we remember, but it’s still him.”

“Armin-” she tried again but he just reach across the counter to put his hand on her shoulder.

“You both deserve to be happy again. Stop punishing yourself when clearly Eren still wants to be near you. Just give it a try.”

Mikasa nodded and Armin gave her one of his comforting smiles. Maybe he was right (though she shouldn’t need to question that, Armin was always right). Maybe it would be like starting over, starting fresh. As much as she still longed for the man she loved, this man was  _still_  Eren. If it meant she got to be a step closer to the life she missed so much with him then maybe it was worth the risk.


	34. Tokyo Ghoul Re II

_**Anonymous:**  oh god, I have to know what happened after that eremika x tokyo ghoul fanfic :re its killing me_

* * *

 

Eren held his hand over the apartment door in front of him, hesitating before he knocked. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to, this was his idea after all but he was getting a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach the whole walk from his apartment to the address written on the small napkin. He had never been to this part of town before but it was still familiar to him; even this apartment building, this door, it made him feel like he was here before.

Maybe he was; it was hard for him to say. Eren was aware there was a part of his life he couldn’t remember that there was someone he used to be that he wasn’t anymore. He tried not to think too much about it because he didn’t want to know the person he once was.

He bit his bottom lip as he knocked on Mikasa’s door.

At least that’s what he told himself.

Eren heard some shuffling inside before the door cracked open and Mikasa’s form was standing in front of him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in colors other than black and white,” he teased, a smile pulling at his lips that he couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to. She was still the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

She rolled her eyes but he didn’t miss the smile on her lips. “I’m almost ready; do you want to come in for a moment?”

He nodded and stepped inside the apartment as she closed the door behind him. It was a pretty nice place; very neat and rather spacious. He didn’t know owning a café paid so well.

“I’ll be right out,” she smiled at him again before walking off into a room to the left of the living room.

Eren slowly walked through the small kitchen area to the larger living room. It seemed to be a pretty typical apartment; couch, a few chairs, lots of book shelves piled with books. It was nice but something seemed missing. He didn’t know why he’d feel that way; after all it wasn’t his home so how could something be missing? It wasn’t until he spotted an empty nail pressed into the wall above the couch he realized what it was. Mikasa didn’t have any picture frames on her walls or on her shelves.

Maybe she just wasn’t a picture person but for some reason it just felt outta place like there should be pictures. Regardless, Eren took a seat on the couch that overlooked a large window looking down at the now dark street below. It wasn’t just a street, there was a nice park just a bit away; lantern lights shining up a walkway that led around a green park, and a large pond in the center with a waterfall rushing into it. Eren was impressed. How did she manage to get since a nice view?

He heard some movement from the room Mikasa went in but she didn’t come out yet. Eren didn’t mind though, he’d wait forever if it meant he got to spend some more time with her. He really wasn’t sure why he felt so attached to her over the relatively short time he knew her; he figured it was just because she was a gorgeous and smart girl who didn’t seem to mind him hanging around. He was okay with that. He loved to spend his time in the café with her and if this date meant spending even more time with her in the future, he was completely okay with waiting.

Eren looked back out the window at the park. He saw a few people walking around, probably enjoying the warm summer weather once the sun went down. Maybe once they ate and Eren walked her back home he could get her to go down to the park with him, yeah, that sounded like a nice plan.

A jolt went through his mind as bright flashes behind his eyes made his head ache. His eyes snapped shut as he reached his hands up to hold his head trying to get the pain to stop but it didn’t stop the sudden images going through his mind.

It was of the park on a brighter day; Eren could see himself walking down the sidewalk and his hands were in his pockets, his shoulder’s tense. He didn’t know what it was but Eren knew he was stressing over something. He knew he had gone to the park because it was close to where he lived; it was a safe place, a meeting place. He must’ve seen something in the distance because there were suddenly waves of relief rushing over him as he started to walk much quicker. He opened his arms just in time to catch a girl who had run into him, jumping into his arms; Eren could almost feel her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. He held her close in his mind, rubbing her back, peppering her neck with kisses as he told her something Eren couldn’t make out.

His mind was starting to fade back to black but he couldn’t get a look at the girl’s face. All Eren knew was he didn’t think he ever felt such love before in his life.

“Eren? Eren, are you okay?”

He snapped his eyes opened before dropping his hands into his lap to see Mikasa kneeling in front of him. She had one hand on his temple, her eyes filled with concern. “Yeah, yeah,” he tried to wave it off horribly embarrassed she caught him like that. “I just started to feel like I was getting a headache, probably because I’ve been saving my appetite for tonight.” He gave her a smile but she didn’t look convinced at all.

“Do you need some ibuprofen?”

Eren shook his head. “I’m fine, thank you though. All ready to go?”

Mikasa still didn’t look like she was buying it, and that concern for him never left her face, even as she stood up. “Yes, all ready when you are.”

“You look beautiful,” he said, standing to his feet. “Not that you don’t always, but red suits you. You should think about changing the uniforms at the café to red instead.”

Mikasa looked surprised for a moment and Eren wondered if he had crossed some line but her face settled back to the warm one he had gotten used to. “I don’t know how well Armin would feel about having red dresses as uniforms.” She led him to the front of the apartment.

“I dunno, I think he’d look just fine in it too.”

She laughed and it sent chills down Eren’s spine. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

He held the door open for her but not without one last look into her apartment. There was still something off about it but he couldn’t place his finger on it. He closed the door behind him and watched Mikasa lock up before she turned to face him. “I’ll lead the way,” he smiled holding his arm out for her.

Mikasa laughed like she was amused though Eren wasn’t sure what for; still she gave him a smile and took his arm, placing one hand on his forearm. “Lead away.”

Eren did just that, walking her to the elevator and out of the building and out onto the sidewalk. He took a deep breath of the warm air before looking down to Mikasa. She was glancing around the street but seemed to be content and really that was all he could ask for.

The memory that he had in her apartment made his stomach sink as they walked. It was a horrible mix of curiosity and knowing that was a path he shouldn’t look back down. Still, that girl he saw; it was so clear how much he had loved her once, how much she loved him. Was she still out there? Did she remember what he didn’t?

Mikasa tapped on his arm causing him to look back down. “You’re rather quiet,” she said.

He wasn’t sure what it was about Mikasa, but regardless of some cryptic memory he just had this deep desire to make her happy, to always see her smile.  Still, he had to ask.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about that gorgeous park over there. I’ve never seen it before.”

Mikasa go a strange look on her face, on he didn’t recognize, but she stopped on the sidewalk causing him to halt next to her. When she spoke, her voice was almost breathless. “Do you want to walk through it?”

 


End file.
